Let platform manifests go only on a confirmed collect, and copy again what a sweep took

An unrecorded index or a copy in progress can name a platform the records do not see, so
only a person's collect, after its dry run, takes an index's platforms, and only once every
kept index of each repository it touches was read. A copy missing a platform is copied
again, and a copy a build holds again is no longer recorded as collected (review of #144).

cmd/mesh-controller/gate.go

@@ -77,6 +77,10 @@ type health int
 
 const (
 	healthGood health = iota
+	// healthPerson is a wait for a person (novox/hq ADR 0254): everything unhealthy of the module waits for
+	// one person's new login (personWait). The build did what it should; no bound a machine can meet ends
+	// the wait. It counts as a pass, and the gate carries the reading along in its verdict.
+	healthPerson
 	// healthWaiting is not a pass and not a fault: what the module's checks find waits on an unhealthy
 	// provider (ADR 0240 rule 5), so the judging waits — past the bound too — rather than putting back a
 	// build for something it did not do.
@@ -209,7 +213,9 @@ func judgeHealth(module, component string, m catalogue.Manifest, machine string,
 				firstLine(f.openErr.Error())
 		}
 		for _, c := range f.open {
-			if c.Source == gateProbe || c.Raised.Before(since) {
+			// A wait for a person's new login is the module's reading, not a fault raised since the send: the
+			// gate reads it from the statement below (ADR 0254).
+			if c.Source == gateProbe || c.Raised.Before(since) || c.Kind == kindReloginNeeded {
 				continue
 			}
 			onIt := c.Subject.Machine == machine || slices.Contains(c.Subject.Also, machine) ||
@@ -435,13 +441,19 @@ func judgeMoves(ctx context.Context, open *stores, g *inventory.PlanGate, pairs
 	for node, moved := range byMachine {
 		words[node] = aboutTheMachine(node, moved, *g.Since, facts)
 	}
+	// **Each module is judged on its own** (novox/hq ADR 0254, issue 318): its reading is the worst of its
+	// machines', its passes are counted apart, and the send's verdict is still one — but a module that was
+	// healthy on its own for the passes the gate asks keeps a pass when another beside it fails.
 	worst, why := healthGood, ""
 	var failing []string
 	broken := map[string]bool{}
+	reading := map[string]health{}
+	waits := map[string]string{}
+	var modules []string
 	for _, j := range pairs {
 		w := words[j.node]
 		h, said := judgeHealth(j.module, coreComponent(j.module), shelf[j.module], j.node, *g.Since, w.facts)
-		if h == healthGood {
+		if h == healthGood || h == healthPerson {
 			if on, named := w.on[j.module]; named {
 				h, said = healthNotYet, on
 			} else if w.whole != "" {
@@ -450,7 +462,16 @@ func judgeMoves(ctx context.Context, open *stores, g *inventory.PlanGate, pairs
 				h, said = healthWaiting, w.waiting
 			}
 		}
-		if h != healthGood && !slices.Contains(failing, j.module) {
+		if _, seen := reading[j.module]; !seen {
+			modules = append(modules, j.module)
+		}
+		if h > reading[j.module] {
+			reading[j.module] = h
+		}
+		if h == healthPerson {
+			waits[j.module] = joinSaid(waits[j.module], said)
+		}
+		if h > healthPerson && !slices.Contains(failing, j.module) {
 			failing = append(failing, j.module)
 		}
 		if h == healthBroken {
@@ -458,14 +479,45 @@ func judgeMoves(ctx context.Context, open *stores, g *inventory.PlanGate, pairs
 		}
 		if h > worst {
 			worst, why = h, said
-		} else if h == worst && h != healthGood && why == "" {
+		} else if h == worst && h > healthPerson && why == "" {
 			why = said
 		}
 	}
+	if g.Healthy == nil {
+		g.Healthy = map[string]int{}
+	}
+	g.Waits = nil
+	for _, m := range modules {
+		switch {
+		case reading[m] > healthPerson:
+			g.Healthy[m] = 0
+		default:
+			g.Healthy[m]++
+			if w := waits[m]; w != "" {
+				if g.Waits == nil {
+					g.Waits = map[string]string{}
+				}
+				g.Waits[m] = w
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	// passedAlone is every module that passed on its own while the send as a whole did not.
+	passedAlone := func() []string {
+		var out []string
+		if now.Sub(*g.Since) < gateSettle {
+			return nil
+		}
+		for _, m := range modules {
+			if reading[m] <= healthPerson && g.Healthy[m] >= gatePasses {
+				out = append(out, m)
+			}
+		}
+		return out
+	}
 	switch {
 	case worst == healthBroken:
 		// What broke is put back; what was only not yet healthy beside it is too — they moved together.
-		g.Failing = failing
+		g.Failing, g.Passing = failing, passedAlone()
 		decide(g, inventory.GateFailed, why, now)
 	case worst == healthWaiting:
 		// Waiting on a provider that is unhealthy: not a pass, and not a failure at the bound either —
@@ -474,19 +526,48 @@ func judgeMoves(ctx context.Context, open *stores, g *inventory.PlanGate, pairs
 	case worst == healthNotYet:
 		g.Passes, g.LastPass, g.Last, g.Failing = 0, nil, why, failing
 		if now.Sub(*g.Since) > gateBound {
+			g.Passing = passedAlone()
 			decide(g, inventory.GateFailed, fmt.Sprintf("not healthy within %s of its apply: %s", gateBound, why), now)
 		}
 	default:
+		// Healthy, or waiting for a person (ADR 0254): a pass, the wait carried along in the verdict.
 		g.Passes++
 		g.LastPass, g.Last, g.Failing = &now, "", nil
 		if g.Passes >= gatePasses && now.Sub(*g.Since) >= gateSettle {
 			decide(g, inventory.GatePassed, fmt.Sprintf("healthy %d times over %s", g.Passes,
-				now.Sub(*g.Since).Round(time.Second)), now)
+				now.Sub(*g.Since).Round(time.Second))+waitsSaid(g.Waits), now)
 		}
 	}
 	return g.Verdict, nil
 }
 
+// waitsSaid is the waits for a person a passing gate carries, as its verdict says them.
+func waitsSaid(waits map[string]string) string {
+	if len(waits) == 0 {
+		return ""
+	}
+	modules := make([]string, 0, len(waits))
+	for m := range waits {
+		modules = append(modules, m)
+	}
+	sort.Strings(modules)
+	var said []string
+	for _, m := range modules {
+		said = append(said, waits[m])
+	}
+	return "; and it waits for a person: " + strings.Join(said, "; ")
+}
+
+func joinSaid(a, b string) string {
+	switch {
+	case a == "":
+		return b
+	case b == "" || strings.Contains(a, b):
+		return a
+	}
+	return a + "; " + b
+}
+
 // decide sets a gate's verdict.
 func decide(g *inventory.PlanGate, verdict, why string, now time.Time) {
 	g.Verdict, g.Why, g.JudgedAt = verdict, why, &now
@@ -959,6 +1040,12 @@ func gateLine(g *inventory.PlanGate) string {
 	} else if g.Verdict == "" {
 		line += fmt.Sprintf(" (%d of %d passes)", g.Passes, gatePasses)
 	}
+	if g.Verdict == "" && len(g.Waits) > 0 {
+		line += waitsSaid(g.Waits)
+	}
+	if len(g.Passing) > 0 {
+		line += "; passed on their own and kept: " + strings.Join(g.Passing, ", ")
+	}
 	if g.Rollback != "" {
 		line += "; " + g.Rollback
 	}

cmd/mesh-controller/handacts.go

@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/nats-io/nats.go"
 
 	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/broker"
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/conditions"
 	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/link"
 )
 
@@ -65,8 +66,10 @@ var handActVerbs = []handActVerb{
 	// not trusted with it — either is a repair the owner should have made.
 	{Verb: "plans go"},
 	{Verb: "broker consumer-reset"},
-	// Silencing the same condition twice says the condition, or what it watches, wants mending.
-	{Verb: "conditions silence"},
+	// Silencing the same condition twice says the condition, or what it watches, wants mending — unless
+	// it is the operator's answer on a notification: a decision to live with it (novox/hq ADR 0258).
+	{Verb: "conditions silence", Decision: "the operator's answer on a notification is their decision, " +
+		"not a repair (ADR 0258)", DecidedFor: []string{conditions.CauseOperatorAnswer}},
 	// An act done outside the mesh: the mesh cannot tell a repair from a decision there, so it counts —
 	// except a drill recorded through it before `hand-act drill` existed (2026-10-07). It refuses the
 	// cause since, so no act recorded through it now carries it.

cmd/mesh-controller/merge_gate.go

@@ -135,6 +135,7 @@ type mergeComposed struct {
 	Problems  []string          `json:"problems,omitempty"`
 	Withheld  []string          `json:"withheld,omitempty"`
 	Unbound   []string          `json:"unbound,omitempty"`
+	Unplaced  []string          `json:"unplaced,omitempty"`
 	LeftOut   map[string]string `json:"left-out,omitempty"`
 	Resources []string          `json:"resources,omitempty"`
 }
@@ -372,6 +373,12 @@ func judgeChange(ctx context.Context, in mergeCheckInput) (mergeVerdict, error)
 			v.Failures = append(v.Failures, fmt.Sprintf("%s: the change leaves a credential bound elsewhere — %s",
 				gm.Described, u))
 		}
+		// A contribution its holder's template renders nothing for (novox/hq ADR 0255): the machine
+		// would be sent without it, so a change that adds one is refused, naming it.
+		for _, u := range newOnly(gm.Change.Unplaced, gm.Base.Unplaced) {
+			v.Failures = append(v.Failures, fmt.Sprintf("%s: the change leaves a contribution unplaced — %s",
+				gm.Described, u))
+		}
 		for module, why := range gm.Change.LeftOut {
 			if _, was := gm.Base.LeftOut[module]; !was {
 				v.Failures = append(v.Failures, fmt.Sprintf("%s: the change leaves %s out of its declaration — %s",
@@ -780,6 +787,7 @@ func composeEveryMachine(ctx context.Context, in mergeCheckInput, shelf map[stri
 			for _, u := range declared.unbound {
 				c.Unbound = append(c.Unbound, u.String())
 			}
+			c.Unplaced = declared.unplaced
 			sort.Strings(c.Withheld)
 			sort.Strings(c.Unbound)
 			out[m.Name] = c

cmd/mesh-controller/module_health.go

@@ -73,7 +73,7 @@ func stateHealth(ctx context.Context, inv *inventory.Inventory, k *conditions.Ke
 	for _, r := range h.Resources {
 		kept := inventory.ResourceHealth{Module: r.Module, Resource: r.Resource, Kind: r.Kind, Target: r.Target,
 			State: r.State, Reason: r.Reason, Since: r.Since, Streak: r.Streak, Restarts: r.Restarts,
-			Check: r.Check, Needs: r.Needs}
+			Check: r.Check, Needs: r.Needs, Account: r.Account}
 		resources = append(resources, kept)
 		if r.State == link.StateUnhealthy && r.Module != "" {
 			unhealthy[r.Module] = append(unhealthy[r.Module], kept)
@@ -135,7 +135,7 @@ func judgeModuleHealth(ctx context.Context, inv *inventory.Inventory, k *conditi
 	}
 	standing := map[string]conditions.Condition{}
 	for _, c := range open {
-		if c.Kind == kindModuleUnhealthy && c.Subject.Machine == node {
+		if (c.Kind == kindModuleUnhealthy || c.Kind == kindReloginNeeded) && c.Subject.Machine == node {
 			standing[c.Key] = c
 		}
 	}
@@ -155,6 +155,19 @@ func judgeModuleHealth(ctx context.Context, inv *inventory.Inventory, k *conditi
 	heldOn := map[string]string{}
 	providers := map[catalogue.Chosen]bool{}
 	for _, m := range modules {
+		// **A wait for a person's new login is said as that** (novox/hq ADR 0254): one plain sentence to the
+		// operator, never urgent, cleared on the first statement that no longer says it.
+		if said, waits := personWait(m, node, unhealthy[m]); waits {
+			o := reloginObservation(m, node, said, unhealthy[m])
+			seen[o.Key()] = true
+			if _, isOpen := standing[o.Key()]; streaks[m] < moduleUnhealthyAfter && !isOpen {
+				continue
+			}
+			if _, err := k.Observe(ctx, o); err != nil {
+				problems = append(problems, err.Error())
+			}
+			continue
+		}
 		o := moduleUnhealthyObservation(m, node, unhealthy[m])
 		if hold != nil {
 			if p, held := hold.heldUnder(node, m, unhealthy[m]); held {
@@ -188,6 +201,9 @@ func judgeModuleHealth(ctx context.Context, inv *inventory.Inventory, k *conditi
 		}
 		module := strings.TrimSuffix(c.Subject.ID, "."+node)
 		why := fmt.Sprintf("%s says no resource of %s is unhealthy", node, module)
+		if c.Kind == kindReloginNeeded {
+			why = fmt.Sprintf("%s says %s no longer waits for a new login", node, module)
+		}
 		if on, held := heldOn[key]; held {
 			why = fmt.Sprintf("what %s finds on %s waits on %s, which is unhealthy: held under its condition", module, node, on)
 		}
@@ -239,11 +255,33 @@ func sayWaiters(ctx context.Context, k *conditions.Keeper, hold *holding, p cata
 	return err
 }
 
+// reloginObservation is a module waiting for a person's new login on a machine (novox/hq ADR 0254): the
+// operator's, a warning, its summary the one sentence that says what to do; the resources are evidence. Its
+// plain words (ADR 0253) are the kind's: it needs the operator, and offers no answer — no verb can log a
+// person in again, and a restart of the module's service would start it in the same session.
+func reloginObservation(module, node, said string, rs []inventory.ResourceHealth) conditions.Observation {
+	o := moduleUnhealthyObservation(module, node, rs)
+	o.Token, o.Kind, o.Resolver, o.Summary = kindReloginNeeded, kindReloginNeeded, conditions.ResolverOperator, said
+	w := reloginWords(module, node)
+	o.Headline, o.Explanation, o.Resolved, o.Needs, o.Actions = w.Headline, w.Explanation, w.Resolved, w.Needs, nil
+	return o
+}
+
+// reloginWords is what the operator reads of a module waiting for their new login on a machine (ADR 0253,
+// ADR 0254): never quiet, since only the operator can do it, and no button, since nothing else can.
+func reloginWords(module, node string) words {
+	return words{Headline: fmt.Sprintf("%s waits for a new login on %s", module, node),
+		Needs: fmt.Sprintf("log out of %s completely and log in again, or restart it.", node),
+		Explanation: fmt.Sprintf("%s put your account in a group it needs. You logged in before that, so %s "+
+			"cannot run until you log in again. Its update is in place and nothing was undone.", conditions.Capital(module), module),
+		Resolved: fmt.Sprintf("%s runs on %s after your new login", module, node)}
+}
+
 // moduleUnhealthyObservation is a module unhealthy on a machine, in words: the summary names the module,
 // the machine and what is wrong with each resource; the detail — targets, streaks, since — is evidence.
 func moduleUnhealthyObservation(module, node string, rs []inventory.ResourceHealth) conditions.Observation {
 	var words, said, plain []string
-	needs, actions := moduleNeeds(node, rs)
+	needs := moduleNeeds(node, rs)
 	for _, r := range rs {
 		plain = append(plain, resourcePlainWords(r))
 		if r.Kind == link.KindUnit {
@@ -267,7 +305,6 @@ func moduleUnhealthyObservation(module, node string, rs []inventory.ResourceHeal
 		Explanation: fmt.Sprintf("%s on %s is not healthy: %s. It clears as soon as it runs again.", module, node,
 			namesWords(plain, 3)),
 		Needs:    needs,
-		Actions:  actions,
 		Resolved: fmt.Sprintf("%s works again on %s", module, node)}
 }
 
@@ -296,9 +333,76 @@ func orNotSaid(s string) string {
 	return s
 }
 
+// kindReloginNeeded is a module's condition while it waits for a person's new login on a machine (novox/hq
+// ADR 0254): its own kind, so that neither the gate nor anyone reading the conditions takes it for a fault.
+const kindReloginNeeded = "relogin-needed"
+
+// personWait is whether everything unhealthy of a module on a machine waits for one person's new login, and
+// that wait in one plain sentence (novox/hq ADR 0254, issue 318). Narrow on purpose, so that a fault is never
+// excused:
+//
+//   - at least one of the module's resources is its account (kind account), unhealthy with a reason that
+//     starts "relogin needed" (ADR 0252): the database lists the account in the group, and the session
+//     running began before;
+//   - every other unhealthy resource of the module runs in the own service manager of one of those very
+//     accounts (Account names it): the manager that began before the group and does not hold it.
+//
+// Anything else unhealthy of the module — a container, a unit of the machine's own manager, a unit in
+// another account's manager, a resource whose engine does not say whose manager it is in, an account
+// not in its group or that could not be read — is not a wait, and the module is judged as before. A
+// resource still starting is not unhealthy and does not make a wait either. Pure.
+func personWait(module, machine string, rs []inventory.ResourceHealth) (string, bool) {
+	waiting := map[string]bool{}
+	var accounts []string
+	for _, r := range rs {
+		if r.Module == module && r.Kind == link.KindAccount && r.State == link.StateUnhealthy &&
+			strings.HasPrefix(r.Reason, link.ReasonRelogin) && accountOf(r) != "" && !waiting[accountOf(r)] {
+			waiting[accountOf(r)] = true
+			accounts = append(accounts, accountOf(r))
+		}
+	}
+	if len(accounts) == 0 {
+		return "", false
+	}
+	var units []string
+	for _, r := range rs {
+		if r.Module != module || r.State != link.StateUnhealthy {
+			continue
+		}
+		switch {
+		case r.Kind == link.KindAccount && strings.HasPrefix(r.Reason, link.ReasonRelogin) && waiting[accountOf(r)]:
+		case r.Kind != link.KindAccount && r.Account != "" && waiting[r.Account]:
+			units = append(units, r.Target)
+		default:
+			return "", false
+		}
+	}
+	sort.Strings(accounts)
+	said := fmt.Sprintf("relogin needed on %s: %s waits for a new login of %s, which is in its group and whose "+
+		"running session began before it was; log out of every session and in again, or reboot", machine, module,
+		strings.Join(accounts, ", "))
+	if len(units) > 0 {
+		sort.Strings(units)
+		said += fmt.Sprintf(" (until then %s cannot run in that session)", strings.Join(units, ", "))
+	}
+	return said, true
+}
+
+// accountOf is the account a resource of kind account is: named by the engine, or its target.
+func accountOf(r inventory.ResourceHealth) string {
+	if r.Account != "" {
+		return r.Account
+	}
+	return r.Target
+}
+
 // moduleHealthWord is the gate's reading of a module's stated health on a machine (ADR 0240 §4, ADR 0236
 // §2 as amended): good when every long-running resource of it is stated healthy in a statement heard since
 // the send; not yet otherwise, saying which. A machine that never stated health is judged as before.
+//
+// **A wait for a person is its own reading** (novox/hq ADR 0254): when everything unhealthy of the module
+// waits for one person's new login (personWait), the reading is healthPerson — not a fault of the build,
+// and not something a machine can meet within a bound.
 func moduleHealthWord(module, machine string, since time.Time, f gateFacts) (health, string) {
 	if f.healthErr != nil {
 		return healthNotYet, "what " + machine + " says of its resources' health cannot be read: " + firstLine(f.healthErr.Error())
@@ -310,10 +414,14 @@ func moduleHealthWord(module, machine string, since time.Time, f gateFacts) (hea
 	if h.HeardAt.Before(since) {
 		return healthNotYet, fmt.Sprintf("%s has not said how what %s runs is since it was sent", machine, module)
 	}
+	wait, waits := personWait(module, machine, h.Resources)
 	for _, r := range h.Resources {
 		if r.Module != module {
 			continue
 		}
+		if waits && r.State == link.StateUnhealthy {
+			continue
+		}
 		switch r.State {
 		case link.StateHealthy:
 		case link.StateStarting:
@@ -329,6 +437,9 @@ func moduleHealthWord(module, machine string, since time.Time, f gateFacts) (hea
 				reasonAfter(r.Reason))
 		}
 	}
+	if waits {
+		return healthPerson, wait
+	}
 	return healthGood, ""
 }
 

cmd/mesh-controller/person_wait_test.go

@@ -0,0 +1,214 @@
+package main
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/conditions"
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/inventory"
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/link"
+)
+
+// A wait for a person is not a failure, and one module's verdict is not every module's (novox/hq ADR 0254,
+// issue 318).
+
+func relogin(module, account string) inventory.ResourceHealth {
+	return inventory.ResourceHealth{Module: module, Resource: module + "." + account, Kind: link.KindAccount, Target: account,
+		Account: account, State: link.StateUnhealthy, Reason: link.ReasonRelogin + ": " + account + " is in the group " + module +
+			", and its running session began before it was; log out of every session and in again, or reboot"}
+}
+
+func userUnit(module, account string) inventory.ResourceHealth {
+	return inventory.ResourceHealth{Module: module, Resource: module + ".daemon", Kind: link.KindUnit,
+		Target: module + "-daemon.service", Account: account, State: link.StateUnhealthy,
+		Reason: "failed in the account's own service manager (exit-code)"}
+}
+
+// Only what depends on the new login alone is a wait; anything else unhealthy of the module is judged as
+// before, so that a fault is never excused.
+func TestOnlyWhatDependsOnTheNewLoginIsAWait(t *testing.T) {
+	notInGroup := relogin("lights", "operator")
+	notInGroup.Reason = "not in the group lights: the apply has not put operator there; its outcome says why"
+	systemUnit := userUnit("lights", "operator")
+	systemUnit.Account = ""
+	otherAccount := userUnit("lights", "guest")
+	container := inventory.ResourceHealth{Module: "lights", Resource: "lights.web", Kind: "container", Target: "lights",
+		State: link.StateUnhealthy, Reason: "down"}
+	otherModule := userUnit("sound", "operator")
+	starting := userUnit("lights", "operator")
+	starting.State = link.StateStarting
+	byTarget := relogin("lights", "operator")
+	byTarget.Account = "" // an account said by its target alone is still that account
+
+	for _, c := range []struct {
+		name  string
+		rs    []inventory.ResourceHealth
+		waits bool
+	}{
+		{"the account alone", []inventory.ResourceHealth{relogin("lights", "operator")}, true},
+		{"the account and its unit in that account's manager", []inventory.ResourceHealth{relogin("lights", "operator"),
+			userUnit("lights", "operator")}, true},
+		{"an account named by its target", []inventory.ResourceHealth{byTarget, userUnit("lights", "operator")}, true},
+		{"another module's unit is not this module's", []inventory.ResourceHealth{relogin("lights", "operator"), otherModule}, true},
+		{"a unit still starting is no fault", []inventory.ResourceHealth{relogin("lights", "operator"), starting}, true},
+		{"a unit and no account", []inventory.ResourceHealth{userUnit("lights", "operator")}, false},
+		{"an account not in its group", []inventory.ResourceHealth{notInGroup, userUnit("lights", "operator")}, false},
+		{"a unit whose manager is not said", []inventory.ResourceHealth{relogin("lights", "operator"), systemUnit}, false},
+		{"a unit in another account's manager", []inventory.ResourceHealth{relogin("lights", "operator"), otherAccount}, false},
+		{"a container beside the wait", []inventory.ResourceHealth{relogin("lights", "operator"), container}, false},
+	} {
+		said, waits := personWait("lights", "laptop", c.rs)
+		if waits != c.waits {
+			t.Errorf("%s: waits %v; want %v", c.name, waits, c.waits)
+			continue
+		}
+		if waits && !strings.HasPrefix(said, "relogin needed on laptop: lights waits for a new login of operator") {
+			t.Errorf("%s: said %q", c.name, said)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+// The gate reads a wait for a person as its own reading, never a fault, and passes with it; the same module
+// with a container down beside it is not yet healthy, as before.
+func TestAWaitForAPersonIsAPassCarriedAlong(t *testing.T) {
+	now := time.Now()
+	since := now.Add(-time.Minute)
+	f := gateFacts{now: now, health: map[string]inventory.NodeHealth{"laptop": {Node: "laptop", HeardAt: now,
+		Resources: []inventory.ResourceHealth{relogin("lights", "operator"), userUnit("lights", "operator")}}}}
+	if h, why := moduleHealthWord("lights", "laptop", since, f); h != healthPerson || !strings.Contains(why, "relogin needed on laptop") {
+		t.Fatalf("a wait for a new login reads %v %q; want a wait for a person", h, why)
+	}
+	h := f.health["laptop"]
+	h.Resources = append(h.Resources, inventory.ResourceHealth{Module: "lights", Resource: "lights.web", Kind: "container",
+		Target: "lights", State: link.StateUnhealthy, Reason: "down"})
+	f.health["laptop"] = h
+	if got, why := moduleHealthWord("lights", "laptop", since, f); got != healthNotYet {
+		t.Fatalf("a container down beside the wait reads %v %q; want not yet", got, why)
+	}
+}
+
+// The module's condition says the wait in one sentence for a person, and clears on the first statement that
+// no longer says it — said as the module's own fault when its unit still fails after the new login.
+func TestTheReloginConditionSaysTheWaitAndClearsAfterTheLogin(t *testing.T) {
+	open := aMesh(t)
+	ctx := t.Context()
+	k, _ := withConditionsInMemory(t)
+	at := h0
+	say := func(rs ...link.ResourceHealth) {
+		t.Helper()
+		at = at.Add(time.Second)
+		for i := range rs {
+			rs[i].Since = at
+		}
+		if err := stateHealth(ctx, open.inventory, k, "laptop", link.Health{Contract: link.ReadinessContract, At: at,
+			Resources: rs}, at); err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
+	}
+	asLink := func(r inventory.ResourceHealth) link.ResourceHealth {
+		return link.ResourceHealth{Module: r.Module, Resource: r.Resource, Kind: r.Kind, Target: r.Target, State: r.State,
+			Reason: r.Reason, Account: r.Account}
+	}
+	account, unit := asLink(relogin("lights", "operator")), asLink(userUnit("lights", "operator"))
+	openNow := func() []conditions.Condition {
+		t.Helper()
+		list, err := k.Open(ctx)
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
+		return list
+	}
+	say(account, unit)
+	say(account, unit)
+	list := openNow()
+	if len(list) != 1 || list[0].Key != "module.lights.laptop.relogin-needed" {
+		t.Fatalf("raised %+v; want lights' relogin-needed alone", list)
+	}
+	c := list[0]
+	if c.Severity != conditions.Warning || c.Resolver != conditions.ResolverOperator ||
+		!strings.HasPrefix(c.Summary, "relogin needed on laptop:") {
+		t.Fatalf("the condition is %s %s %q", c.Severity, c.Resolver, c.Summary)
+	}
+	// After the new login the account is healthy, and the unit, still failing, is the module's own fault.
+	account.State, account.Reason = link.StateHealthy, ""
+	say(account, unit)
+	list = openNow()
+	if len(list) != 1 || list[0].Key != "module.lights.laptop.unhealthy" {
+		t.Fatalf("after the login: %+v; want lights' own unhealthy condition alone", list)
+	}
+	unit.State, unit.Reason = link.StateHealthy, ""
+	say(account, unit)
+	if list = openNow(); len(list) != 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("after the unit runs: %+v; want nothing open", list)
+	}
+}
+
+// A module that is healthy on its own keeps its pass when another module of the same send fails at the
+// bound: it is neither put back nor left without a verdict for every other walk to wait on.
+func TestAModuleHealthyOnItsOwnKeepsItsPassWhenItsSendFails(t *testing.T) {
+	b := aBacklog(t)
+	ctx := t.Context()
+	inv := b.open.inventory
+	releaseHeard = func(context.Context, *stores) (map[string]bool, error) {
+		return map[string]bool{"laptop": true}, nil
+	}
+	backlogFacts := gatherGateFacts
+	gatherGateFacts = func(ctx context.Context, open *stores, component string) (gateFacts, error) {
+		f, err := backlogFacts(ctx, open, component)
+		f.health = map[string]inventory.NodeHealth{"laptop": {Node: "laptop", HeardAt: time.Now(),
+			Resources: []inventory.ResourceHealth{
+				{Module: "app", Resource: "app.web", Kind: "container", Target: "app", State: link.StateHealthy},
+				{Module: "late", Resource: "late.web", Kind: "container", Target: "late", State: link.StateUnhealthy,
+					Reason: "down"}}}}
+		return f, err
+	}
+	gateEvery, gateBound = 0, 300*time.Millisecond
+	deadline := time.Now().Add(5 * time.Second)
+	for time.Now().Before(deadline) {
+		advancePlans(ctx, b.open)
+		if p := b.release(t); p.State != inventory.PlanRolling {
+			break
+		}
+		time.Sleep(20 * time.Millisecond)
+	}
+	p := b.release(t)
+	if p.State != inventory.PlanFailed {
+		t.Fatalf("the walk is %s: %s; want it failed on late", p.State, p.Note)
+	}
+	if v, found, err := inv.GateOf(ctx, "build-app-c2"); err != nil || !found || v.Verdict != inventory.GatePassed ||
+		!strings.Contains(v.Why, "on its own") {
+		t.Fatalf("app's verdict: %+v (found %v, %v); want its own pass kept", v, found, err)
+	}
+	if failed, _ := inv.GateFailed(ctx, "build-late-c2"); !failed {
+		t.Fatal("late's build is not marked failed at its gate")
+	}
+	current, _ := inv.CurrentBuilds(ctx)
+	if current["app"].Commit != "c2" || current["late"].Commit != "c1" {
+		t.Fatalf("registered: app %s, late %s; want app kept at c2 and late put back to c1", current["app"].Commit,
+			current["late"].Commit)
+	}
+	if !strings.Contains(p.Note, "passed on their own and kept: app") {
+		t.Errorf("the walk does not say what kept its pass: %s", p.Note)
+	}
+}
+
+// What the operator reads of the wait (ADR 0253, ADR 0254): it needs them, so it is never quiet, and it offers
+// no button, since nothing but their own new login can do it.
+func TestTheReloginConditionNeedsTheOperatorAndOffersNoButton(t *testing.T) {
+	o := reloginObservation("openrazer", "g14", "relogin needed on g14: …", []inventory.ResourceHealth{
+		relogin("openrazer", "operator"), userUnit("openrazer", "operator")})
+	plainExample(t, o, "openrazer waits for a new login on g14",
+		"Needs you: log out of g14 completely and log in again, or restart it. Openrazer put your account in a "+
+			"group it needs. You logged in before that, so openrazer cannot run until you log in again. Its "+
+			"update is in place and nothing was undone.")
+	if len(o.Actions) != 0 || o.Needs == "" {
+		t.Errorf("relogin: needs %q, actions %+v; want needs and no button", o.Needs, o.Actions)
+	}
+	// The kind's own wording, for a condition raised without words, says the same.
+	if w := plainWordings[kindReloginNeeded](conditions.Observation{Scope: conditions.ScopeModule, ID: "openrazer.g14", Machine: "g14"}); w.Needs != o.Needs ||
+		w.Headline != o.Headline || len(w.Actions) != 0 {
+		t.Errorf("the kind's wording: %+v", w)
+	}
+}

cmd/mesh-controller/plain_words.go

@@ -183,6 +183,13 @@ var plainWordings = map[string]func(conditions.Observation) words{
 			Explanation: fmt.Sprintf("%s is not healthy. It clears as soon as it runs again.", conditions.Capital(thing)),
 			Resolved:    conditions.Capital(thing) + " works again"}
 	}),
+	kindReloginNeeded: worded(func(o conditions.Observation) words {
+		module := ""
+		if o.Scope == conditions.ScopeModule {
+			module = idPart(o, 0)
+		}
+		return reloginWords(orModule(module), machineOr(o, "a machine"))
+	}),
 	kindProviderFailing: worded(func(o conditions.Observation) words {
 		thing, consumer := conditions.ThingWords(o), idPart(o, 2)
 		if consumer == "" {
@@ -247,9 +254,10 @@ var plainWordings = map[string]func(conditions.Observation) words{
 	kindDataMissing: worded(func(o conditions.Observation) words {
 		what, _ := dataWords(o)
 		return words{Headline: conditions.Capital(what) + " is gone",
-			Needs:       "restore it from a backup, or silence this if you removed it.",
+			// No silence from a click: data loss is never waved away from a notification (ADR 0258).
+			Needs:       "restore it from a backup, or silence this " + FromMeshMCPServer,
 			Explanation: fmt.Sprintf("Where %s is kept on %s, nothing exists any more.", what, machineOr(o, "its machine")),
-			Resolved:    conditions.Capital(what) + " is back", Actions: []conditions.Action{conditions.SilenceAction(o.Key())}}
+			Resolved:    conditions.Capital(what) + " is back"}
 	}),
 	kindDataShrank: worded(func(o conditions.Observation) words {
 		what, _ := dataWords(o)
@@ -258,9 +266,10 @@ var plainWordings = map[string]func(conditions.Observation) words{
 			what = "a dataset"
 		}
 		return words{Headline: conditions.Capital(what) + " shrank on " + m,
-			Needs:       "if you meant it, silence this; if not, restore the last good copy from a backup.",
+			// No silence from a click: data loss is never waved away from a notification (ADR 0258).
+			Needs:       "restore the last good copy from a backup, or silence this " + FromMeshMCPServer,
 			Explanation: "More than half of what it held is gone within a week.",
-			Resolved:    "Resolved: the shrinking on " + m + " is explained", Actions: []conditions.Action{conditions.SilenceAction(o.Key())}}
+			Resolved:    "Resolved: the shrinking on " + m + " is explained"}
 	}),
 	kindDataQuiet: worded(func(o conditions.Observation) words {
 		what, _ := dataWords(o)
@@ -630,48 +639,39 @@ func walkWaitingWords(w waitFacts, in time.Duration, severity conditions.Severit
 // waitingNeeds is what the operator does about a walk waiting past its urgent bound: nothing before it.
 func waitingNeeds(severity conditions.Severity) string {
 	if severity == conditions.Urgent {
-		return "start it, or stop it."
+		return "start it, or stop it, " + FromMeshMCPServer
 	}
 	return ""
 }
 
-// waitingActions are the answers to a walk waiting past its urgent bound: the controller's own verb, since
-// the module that should have said go is the one not answering.
-func waitingActions(w waitFacts, severity conditions.Severity) []conditions.Action {
-	if severity != conditions.Urgent {
-		return nil
-	}
-	return []conditions.Action{
-		{Label: "Start", Verb: "mesh-controller.plans", Arguments: map[string]string{"go": w.id, "why": ""}},
-		{Label: "Stop", Verb: "mesh-controller.plans", Arguments: map[string]string{"stop": w.id, "why": ""}},
-	}
-}
-
 // moduleNeeds is what the operator can do about a module unhealthy on a machine: log in again where its
 // account's groups wait for it (ADR 0252), restart a failed service, or nothing where the mesh restarts it.
-func moduleNeeds(node string, rs []inventory.ResourceHealth) (string, []conditions.Action) {
-	var actions []conditions.Action
+// No answer is offered for a restart: a desk click performs only an acknowledgement (ADR 0258).
+func moduleNeeds(node string, rs []inventory.ResourceHealth) string {
+	unit := ""
 	for _, r := range rs {
 		if strings.Contains(r.Reason, "relogin needed") {
-			return fmt.Sprintf("log out of every session on %s and log in again.", node), nil
+			return reloginNeeds(node)
 		}
-		if r.Kind == link.KindUnit && len(actions) < 2 {
-			scope := "system"
-			if strings.Contains(r.Reason, "account's own") {
-				scope = "user"
-			}
-			label := "Restart"
-			if len(actions) > 0 {
-				label = "Restart " + unitPlainWords(r.Target)
-			}
-			actions = append(actions, conditions.Action{Label: label, Verb: "node-service-manager.restart",
-				Machine: node, Arguments: map[string]string{"unit": r.Target, "scope": scope}})
+		if r.Kind == link.KindUnit && unit == "" {
+			unit = unitPlainWords(r.Target)
 		}
 	}
-	if len(actions) > 0 {
-		return "restart it; if it fails again, the details say why.", actions
+	if unit != "" {
+		return fmt.Sprintf("restart its service %s on %s %s", unit, node, FromMeshMCPServer)
 	}
-	return "", nil
+	return ""
+}
+
+// FromMeshMCPServer ends what the operator needs when no notification can do it (ADR 0258), naming the mesh MCP
+// server (the glossary's word; "console" is retired): the answer is not an
+// acknowledgement, so it is given where the operator is known to be the one asking, until answers are
+// authorised (to-be 46 phases 5 and 6).
+const FromMeshMCPServer = "from the mesh MCP server; this notification cannot do it."
+
+// reloginNeeds is what an account waiting for its groups needs (ADR 0252).
+func reloginNeeds(node string) string {
+	return fmt.Sprintf("log out of every session on %s and log in again.", node)
 }
 
 // stalledWords are the plain words of a delivery held past its bound, as mesh-delivery says it.
@@ -688,18 +688,15 @@ func stalledWords(l stalledLine, o conditions.Observation) (headline, explanatio
 		long = "for " + humanDuration(d)
 	}
 	if o.Resolver == conditions.ResolverOperator {
+		// Words only: releasing or stopping a delivery is not an acknowledgement, so no desk click
+		// performs it (ADR 0258).
 		switch held {
 		case "held":
-			needs = "release it, or stop it."
-			actions = []conditions.Action{
-				{Label: "Release", Verb: "mesh-delivery.release", Arguments: map[string]string{"id": l.ID, "why": ""}},
-				{Label: "Stop", Verb: "mesh-delivery.stop", Arguments: map[string]string{"id": l.ID, "why": ""}},
-			}
+			needs = "release it, or stop it, " + FromMeshMCPServer
 		case "ready", "checked":
 			needs = "merge its pull request, or close it."
 		default:
-			needs = "stop it, or read the details to see what it waits for."
-			actions = []conditions.Action{{Label: "Stop", Verb: "mesh-delivery.stop", Arguments: map[string]string{"id": l.ID, "why": ""}}}
+			needs = "stop it " + FromMeshMCPServer
 		}
 	}
 	return fmt.Sprintf("Delivery of %s %s %s", name, held, long),
@@ -759,3 +756,11 @@ func unitReasonWords(reason string) string {
 	}
 	return "failed"
 }
+
+// orModule is a module's name, or "a module" when none is known.
+func orModule(m string) string {
+	if m == "" {
+		return "a module"
+	}
+	return m
+}

cmd/mesh-controller/plain_words_test.go

@@ -68,15 +68,9 @@ func TestADeliveryWaitingNeedsNothingUntilItsBoundThenOffersStartAndStop(t *test
 	f.waits[0].since = now.Add(-5 * time.Hour)
 	got = watchWaits(f)
 	plainExample(t, got[0], "openrazer delivery waiting to start",
-		"Needs you: start it, or stop it. The change to openrazer is merged and built, and mesh-delivery (the "+
+		"Needs you: start it, or stop it, from the mesh MCP server; this notification cannot do it. The change to openrazer is merged and built, and mesh-delivery (the "+
 			"module that decides when a delivery goes out) has not let it start for 5 hours, so mesh-delivery may "+
-			"be stuck.", "Start", "Stop")
-	if a := got[0].Actions[0]; a.Verb != "mesh-controller.plans" || a.Arguments["go"] != "plan-1791454185265004861" {
-		t.Errorf("start: %+v", a)
-	}
-	if a := got[0].Actions[1]; a.Verb != "mesh-controller.plans" || a.Arguments["stop"] != "plan-1791454185265004861" {
-		t.Errorf("stop: %+v", a)
-	}
+			"be stuck.")
 
 	// Many modules are counted, not listed in the headline.
 	f.waits[0].modules = []string{"a", "b", "c", "d"}
@@ -87,24 +81,32 @@ func TestADeliveryWaitingNeedsNothingUntilItsBoundThenOffersStartAndStop(t *test
 }
 
 // **A module unhealthy**: "openrazer on g14 is not healthy: its unit openrazer-daemon.service failed in the
-// account's own service manager (exit-code)". The operator restarts it from the notification.
-func TestAModuleUnhealthyOffersARestartOfItsService(t *testing.T) {
+// account's own service manager (exit-code)". Restarting is not an acknowledgement, so it is said in words
+// and offered as no answer (ADR 0258).
+func TestAModuleUnhealthyAsksForARestartInWords(t *testing.T) {
 	o := moduleUnhealthyObservation("openrazer", "g14", []inventory.ResourceHealth{{Kind: link.KindUnit,
 		Resource: "openrazer-daemon", Target: "openrazer-daemon.service",
 		Reason: "failed in the account's own service manager (exit-code)", Since: time.Now()}})
 	plainExample(t, o, "openrazer not working on g14",
-		"Needs you: restart it; if it fails again, the details say why. openrazer on g14 is not healthy: its "+
-			"service openrazer-daemon stopped with an error. It clears as soon as it runs again.", "Restart")
-	if a := o.Actions[0]; a.Verb != "node-service-manager.restart" || a.Machine != "g14" ||
-		a.Arguments["unit"] != "openrazer-daemon.service" || a.Arguments["scope"] != "user" {
-		t.Errorf("restart: %+v", a)
-	}
-	// An account waiting for a new login (ADR 0252) asks for the login, which no button can give.
+		"Needs you: restart its service openrazer-daemon on g14 from the mesh MCP server; this notification cannot do it. "+
+			"openrazer on g14 is not healthy: its service openrazer-daemon stopped with an error. It clears as soon "+
+			"as it runs again.")
+	// An account waiting for a new login (ADR 0252) asks for the login, held to the plain rule.
 	o = moduleUnhealthyObservation("openrazer", "g14", []inventory.ResourceHealth{{Kind: "account",
 		Resource: "operator-in-group", Target: "jochen", Reason: "relogin needed: the account is in the group"}})
 	if o.Needs != "log out of every session on g14 and log in again." || len(o.Actions) != 0 {
 		t.Errorf("relogin: %q %+v", o.Needs, o.Actions)
 	}
+	w := conditions.Words{Headline: o.Headline, Explanation: o.Explanation, Resolved: o.Resolved, Needs: o.Needs}
+	if why, ok := conditions.PlainWords(w, "g14"); !ok {
+		t.Errorf("the relogin words are not plain: %s", why)
+	}
+	// And the kind issue 318 raises for it (ADR 0254).
+	rw := plainWordings["relogin-needed"](conditions.Observation{Scope: conditions.ScopeModule, ID: "openrazer.g14",
+		Machine: "g14", Kind: "relogin-needed", Severity: conditions.Warning})
+	if why, ok := conditions.PlainWords(rw, "g14"); !ok || rw.Needs == "" || len(rw.Actions) != 0 {
+		t.Errorf("relogin-needed: %s %+v", why, rw)
+	}
 }
 
 // **Failed units on a machine**: "shanks's service manager is degraded: 3 failed unit(s) no module places —
@@ -143,15 +145,12 @@ func TestAHealerWantedNeedsNothingFromTheOperator(t *testing.T) {
 
 // **A delivery held past its bound**, as mesh-delivery says it: "the delivery novox/hq@055550802096 has been
 // held for 36h2m6s, past its bound of 24h0m0s (it waits for the operator): healer H2 may none: …".
-func TestADeliveryHeldOffersReleaseAndStop(t *testing.T) {
+func TestADeliveryHeldAsksForReleaseOrStopInWords(t *testing.T) {
 	got := stalledObservations([]stalledLine{{ID: "novox/hq@055550802096", State: "held", For: "36h2m6s",
 		Bound: "24h0m0s", H2: "none: the state is the operator's", Says: "it waits for the operator"}})
 	plainExample(t, got[0], "Delivery of hq held for 36 hours",
-		"Needs you: release it, or stop it. A delivery of hq has been held for 36 hours, past its limit.",
-		"Release", "Stop")
-	if a := got[0].Actions[0]; a.Verb != "mesh-delivery.release" || a.Arguments["id"] != "novox/hq@055550802096" {
-		t.Errorf("release: %+v", a)
-	}
+		"Needs you: release it, or stop it, from the mesh MCP server; this notification cannot do it. A delivery of hq has been held for 36 hours, past its limit.",
+	)
 }
 
 // **Every kind the controller raises has plain words**, and its words are plain for a subject of every
@@ -184,3 +183,39 @@ func TestEveryWordingIsPlain(t *testing.T) {
 		}
 	}
 }
+
+// **An answer on a notification is no repair** (novox/hq ADR 0258): silencing chosen by the operator on the
+// desk does not count toward a healer wanted; the same silence by hand for another cause still does.
+func TestAnOperatorsAnswerIsNoHandRepair(t *testing.T) {
+	now := time.Date(2026, 10, 8, 12, 0, 0, 0, time.UTC)
+	f := calm(now)
+	for i := 0; i < 3; i++ {
+		a := actByHand(now.Add(-time.Duration(i+1)*time.Hour), conditions.CauseOperatorAnswer)
+		a.Verb = "conditions silence"
+		f.handActs = append(f.handActs, a)
+	}
+	if got := watchHandActs(f); len(got) != 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("an answer counted as a repair: %+v", got)
+	}
+	for i := range f.handActs {
+		f.handActs[i].Cause = "machine-units"
+	}
+	if got := watchHandActs(f); len(got) != 1 {
+		t.Fatalf("a silence by hand stopped counting: %+v", got)
+	}
+}
+
+// **Data loss is never silenced from a notification** (ADR 0258): data missing or shrunk offers no answer,
+// and says where it is silenced.
+func TestDataLossOffersNoSilence(t *testing.T) {
+	for _, kind := range []string{kindDataMissing, kindDataShrank} {
+		w := plainWordings[kind](conditions.Observation{Scope: conditions.ScopeMachine, ID: "ace.immich.library",
+			Machine: "ace", Kind: kind, Severity: conditions.Urgent})
+		if len(w.Actions) != 0 || !strings.HasSuffix(w.Needs, FromMeshMCPServer) {
+			t.Errorf("%s: %+v", kind, w)
+		}
+		if why, ok := conditions.PlainWords(w, "ace"); !ok {
+			t.Errorf("%s: %s", kind, why)
+		}
+	}
+}

cmd/mesh-controller/plan.go

@@ -419,7 +419,7 @@ func declarationWith(ctx context.Context, open *stores, node string,
 	out := sendable{Resources: composed.Resources, Adoption: adoption,
 		Received: composed.Received, Mesh: with.Mesh, BusUsers: with.BusUsers,
 		LeftOut: sortedKeysOf(composed.LeftOut), leftOutWhy: composed.LeftOut, withheld: with.Withheld,
-		unbound: with.Unbound, foreseen: composed.Foreseen}
+		unbound: with.Unbound, foreseen: composed.Foreseen, unplaced: composed.Unplaced}
 	// And which build of each module it carries, for the send to record (novox/hq issue 259, ADR
 	// 0221). Read only on the send path: a question about what would be sent records nothing.
 	if choosing == Allocating {
@@ -528,6 +528,11 @@ func reportLeftOut(node string, declared sendable) {
 	for _, u := range declared.unbound {
 		fmt.Printf("%s: %s\n", node, u)
 	}
+	// And every contribution its holder could not render, which the machine is sent without (novox/hq
+	// ADR 0255).
+	for _, u := range declared.unplaced {
+		fmt.Printf("%s: %s\n", node, u)
+	}
 }
 
 // busCredentialIssued refuses an own secret called `broker` whose bus account nobody issued.

cmd/mesh-controller/release.go

@@ -334,6 +334,15 @@ func failCarried(ctx context.Context, open *stores, p *inventory.Plan, g *invent
 		notes = append(notes, p.Note)
 	}
 	done := map[string]bool{except: true}
+	// **What passed on its own keeps its pass** (novox/hq ADR 0254, issue 318): healthy for the passes the
+	// gate asks while another module of the send failed, it is neither put back nor left unjudged — a build
+	// left without a verdict is one more move every other walk would wait for.
+	if kept := keepPassing(ctx, open, p, g, except); len(kept) > 0 {
+		notes = append(notes, "passed on their own and kept: "+strings.Join(kept, ", "))
+		for _, m := range kept {
+			done[m] = true
+		}
+	}
 	for _, c := range g.Carried {
 		if done[c.Module] || (len(g.Failing) > 0 && !slices.Contains(g.Failing, c.Module)) {
 			continue
@@ -356,6 +365,34 @@ func failCarried(ctx context.Context, open *stores, p *inventory.Plan, g *invent
 	p.Note = strings.Join(notes, "; ")
 }
 
+// keepPassing keeps a pass as the verdict of every build the gate carried that passed on its own when the
+// send failed (ADR 0254), except the plan's own module; answers the modules kept.
+func keepPassing(ctx context.Context, open *stores, p *inventory.Plan, g *inventory.PlanGate, except string) []string {
+	var kept []string
+	seen := map[string]bool{}
+	for _, c := range g.Carried {
+		if c.Module == except || c.Build == "" || seen[c.Build] || !slices.Contains(g.Passing, c.Module) {
+			continue
+		}
+		seen[c.Build] = true
+		why := fmt.Sprintf("healthy %d times on its own while the send failed: %s", g.Healthy[c.Module], g.Why)
+		if w := g.Waits[c.Module]; w != "" {
+			why += "; and it waits for a person: " + w
+		}
+		if err := open.inventory.RecordGate(ctx, inventory.GateVerdict{Build: c.Build, Module: c.Module, Commit: c.To,
+			Previous: c.From, Plan: p.ID, Machines: []string{c.Node}, Verdict: inventory.GatePassed, Why: why,
+			Component: coreComponent(c.Module), JudgingFrom: g.Since}); err != nil {
+			fmt.Printf("%s: %s passed its gate on %s on its own, and the verdict could not be kept: %v\n", p.ID, c.Module,
+				c.Node, err)
+			continue
+		}
+		if !slices.Contains(kept, c.Module) {
+			kept = append(kept, c.Module)
+		}
+	}
+	return kept
+}
+
 // sentTheBuild is every machine running a module that was last sent this build of it.
 func sentTheBuild(ctx context.Context, open *stores, module, commit string) ([]string, error) {
 	running, err := open.inventory.Running(ctx, module)

cmd/mesh-controller/replay318_test.go

@@ -0,0 +1,244 @@
+package main
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"encoding/json"
+	"fmt"
+	"reflect"
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/catalogue"
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/conditions"
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/inventory"
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/lease"
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/link"
+)
+
+// novox/hq issue 318, replayed with only what the controller had before its fix, so it can be laid over the
+// older commit: the statements are read from the node-engine's JSON, as the controller hears them.
+//
+// 2026-10-08, 11:08 UTC: the walk of the builds waiting for a gate sent the laptop three moves in one send —
+// docker ba6058ab → c78b5fc9, node-tools 9a4140b4 → d4845f7c, openrazer 88135ad0 → c78b5fc9 — and judged
+// them together. openrazer's build put the operator's account in the group `openrazer` (ADR 0252); the
+// laptop said the account "relogin needed", and the daemon's unit failed in the account's own service
+// manager, which began before the group. The gate read "not yet healthy" for ten minutes, failed at its
+// bound, put openrazer back (which by ADR 0252 also took the group back), and the walk failed: docker and
+// node-tools, healthy at every judging, never reached the workstation, and every other walk was refused there.
+//
+// The rule's outcome: a wait for a person is not a failure. The send passes with the wait carried along,
+// nothing is put back, the walk goes on to the workstation, and openrazer's condition says, in one sentence
+// for the operator, that a new login is needed on the laptop.
+func TestReplay318(t *testing.T) {
+	open := aMesh(t)
+	ctx := t.Context()
+	inv := open.inventory
+	keeper, _ := withConditionsInMemory(t)
+	was := doctorFrom
+	doctorFrom = nil
+	t.Cleanup(func() { doctorFrom = was })
+
+	build := func(module, repository, commit string, asked time.Time) {
+		manifest, _ := json.Marshal(catalogue.Manifest{Module: module, Version: "1"})
+		if err := inv.RecordBuild(ctx, inventory.Build{ID: "build-" + module + "-" + commit, Module: module, Commit: commit,
+			Repository: repository, Path: "modules/" + module, Manifest: manifest, Asked: asked, At: asked,
+			Made: []inventory.Artifact{{Name: "x", Kind: "bundle", Reference: "sha256:" + module + "-" + commit}}}); err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
+		if err := inv.RegisterModule(ctx, catalogue.Manifest{Module: module, Version: "1"}, inventory.Source{
+			Repository: repository, Seat: "git", Path: "modules/" + module, BuiltFrom: commit, Head: commit,
+			Asked: asked}); err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
+	}
+	type move struct{ module, repository, from, to string }
+	moves := []move{
+		{"docker", "novox/mesh-catalog", "ba6058ab", "c78b5fc9"},
+		{"node-tools", "novox/mesh-tools", "9a4140b4", "d4845f7c"},
+		{"openrazer", "novox/mesh-catalog", "88135ad0", "c78b5fc9"},
+	}
+	machines := []string{"laptop", "workstation"}
+	if _, err := inv.AddNode(ctx, "workstation"); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	old, recent := time.Now().Add(-3*time.Hour), time.Now().Add(-time.Minute)
+	for _, mv := range moves {
+		build(mv.module, mv.repository, mv.from, old)
+		for _, n := range machines {
+			if _, err := inv.Assign(ctx, n, mv.module); err != nil {
+				t.Fatal(err)
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	for _, n := range machines {
+		sent := map[string]string{}
+		for _, mv := range moves {
+			sent[mv.module] = mv.from
+		}
+		if err := inv.RecordSent(ctx, nodeID(t, open, n), "d-"+n, sent); err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
+	}
+	for _, mv := range moves {
+		build(mv.module, mv.repository, mv.to, recent)
+	}
+
+	// What each machine says, as its node-engine words it: openrazer's account waits for a new login, and the
+	// daemon's unit failed in that account's own manager; docker's container is healthy.
+	statement := func(at time.Time) link.Health {
+		raw := fmt.Sprintf(`{"contract": %d, "at": %q, "resources": [
+			{"module": "docker", "resource": "docker.engine", "kind": "service", "target": "docker.service",
+			 "state": "healthy", "since": %q},
+			{"module": "openrazer", "resource": "openrazer.operator", "kind": "account", "target": "operator",
+			 "account": "operator", "state": "unhealthy", "since": %q, "streak": 3,
+			 "reason": "relogin needed: operator is in the group openrazer, and its running session began before it was; log out of every session and in again, or reboot"},
+			{"module": "openrazer", "resource": "openrazer.daemon", "kind": "unit", "target": "openrazer-daemon.service",
+			 "account": "operator", "state": "unhealthy", "since": %q, "streak": 3,
+			 "reason": "failed in the account's own service manager (exit-code)"}]}`,
+			link.ReadinessContract, at.Format(time.RFC3339Nano), at.Format(time.RFC3339Nano), at.Format(time.RFC3339Nano),
+			at.Format(time.RFC3339Nano))
+		var h link.Health
+		if err := json.Unmarshal([]byte(raw), &h); err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
+		return h
+	}
+
+	wasMoves, wasHeard, wasSend, wasGather := machineMoves, releaseHeard, sendRollout, gatherGateFacts
+	wasSettle, wasEvery, wasBound := gateSettle, gateEvery, gateBound
+	t.Cleanup(func() {
+		machineMoves, releaseHeard, sendRollout, gatherGateFacts = wasMoves, wasHeard, wasSend, wasGather
+		gateSettle, gateEvery, gateBound = wasSettle, wasEvery, wasBound
+	})
+	machineMoves = func(ctx context.Context, open *stores, f moveFacts, node string, all bool) ([]inventory.CarriedMove, error) {
+		modules, err := open.inventory.Assigned(ctx, node)
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
+		sent, known, err := open.inventory.SentBuilds(ctx, node)
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
+		return f.moves(node, modules, sent, known, all), nil
+	}
+	releaseHeard = func(context.Context, *stores) (map[string]bool, error) {
+		return map[string]bool{"laptop": true, "workstation": true}, nil
+	}
+	var sends [][]string
+	n := 0
+	sendRollout = func(ctx context.Context, open *stores, names []string) ([]string, error) {
+		sends = append(sends, append([]string(nil), names...))
+		current, err := open.inventory.CurrentBuilds(ctx)
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
+		for _, node := range names {
+			modules, _ := open.inventory.Assigned(ctx, node)
+			carried := map[string]string{}
+			for _, m := range modules {
+				carried[m] = current[m].Commit
+			}
+			n++
+			digest := fmt.Sprintf("d-%s-%d", node, n)
+			if err := open.inventory.RecordSent(ctx, nodeID(t, open, node), digest, carried); err != nil {
+				return nil, err
+			}
+			if _, err := open.inventory.RecordDoing(ctx, nodeID(t, open, node), inventory.Doing{Node: node,
+				Outcome: inventory.OutcomeApplied, Declared: digest, Applied: 1, At: time.Now()}); err != nil {
+				return nil, err
+			}
+		}
+		return names, nil
+	}
+	// Every judging hears each machine's newest statement first, as the controller does between judgings:
+	// the account's wait and the failed unit are raised as openrazer's condition, after the send.
+	gatherGateFacts = func(ctx context.Context, open *stores, component string) (gateFacts, error) {
+		now := time.Now()
+		f := gateFacts{now: now, reports: map[string]inventory.Reported{}, engines: map[string]string{},
+			rolledBack: map[string][]lease.Rollback{}, served: map[string]served{}, health: map[string]inventory.NodeHealth{},
+			judged: true}
+		for _, m := range machines {
+			if err := stateHealth(ctx, open.inventory, keeper, m, statement(now), now); err != nil {
+				return f, err
+			}
+			f.served[m] = served{runtime: true, tools: map[string]bool{}}
+		}
+		reports, err := open.inventory.LastReports(ctx)
+		if err != nil {
+			return f, err
+		}
+		for _, r := range reports {
+			f.reports[r.Node] = r
+		}
+		if f.health, err = open.inventory.Healths(ctx); err != nil {
+			return f, err
+		}
+		f.open, f.openErr = keeper.Open(ctx)
+		return f, nil
+	}
+	// The bound is reached at the first judging that is not a pass: what happened at 11:21 happens at once.
+	gateSettle, gateEvery, gateBound = 0, 0, 0
+
+	for i := 0; i < 12; i++ {
+		advancePlans(ctx, open)
+		time.Sleep(5 * time.Millisecond)
+	}
+
+	var p inventory.Plan
+	plans, err := inv.RecentPlans(ctx, 10)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	for _, q := range plans {
+		if q.Release != nil {
+			p = q
+			break
+		}
+	}
+	if p.Release == nil {
+		t.Fatal("no walk of the builds waiting for a gate was opened")
+	}
+	if p.State != inventory.PlanDone || !reflect.DeepEqual(p.Release.Done, machines) {
+		t.Fatalf("the walk is %s on %v: %s; want it done on the laptop and then the workstation", p.State,
+			p.Release.Done, p.Note)
+	}
+	if !reflect.DeepEqual(sends, [][]string{{"laptop"}, {"workstation"}}) {
+		t.Fatalf("sent %v; want the laptop, then the workstation, and nothing put back", sends)
+	}
+	current, err := inv.CurrentBuilds(ctx)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if current["openrazer"].Commit != "c78b5fc9" {
+		t.Fatalf("openrazer is registered at %s: its build was put back for a wait for a person", current["openrazer"].Commit)
+	}
+	for _, mv := range moves {
+		v, found, err := inv.GateOf(ctx, "build-"+mv.module+"-"+mv.to)
+		if err != nil || !found || v.Verdict != inventory.GatePassed {
+			t.Fatalf("%s's build %s: verdict %+v (found %v, %v); want a pass", mv.module, mv.to, v, found, err)
+		}
+		if mv.module == "openrazer" && !strings.Contains(v.Why, "relogin needed on ") {
+			t.Errorf("openrazer's pass does not carry its wait for a person: %q", v.Why)
+		}
+	}
+	// What the operator reads: one condition per machine for openrazer, saying a new login is needed there,
+	// a warning for a person, and no fault of the build.
+	list, err := keeper.Open(ctx)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	var said []string
+	for _, c := range list {
+		said = append(said, c.Key+": "+c.Summary)
+		if c.Subject.ID == "openrazer.laptop" {
+			if !strings.HasPrefix(c.Summary, "relogin needed on laptop") || c.Severity == conditions.Urgent ||
+				c.Resolver != conditions.ResolverOperator {
+				t.Errorf("openrazer's condition on the laptop: %s %s %s %q", c.Key, c.Severity, c.Resolver, c.Summary)
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	if !strings.Contains(strings.Join(said, "\n"), "relogin needed on laptop") {
+		t.Errorf("nothing says a new login is needed on the laptop:\n%s", strings.Join(said, "\n"))
+	}
+}

cmd/mesh-controller/sendable.go

@@ -58,6 +58,9 @@ type sendable struct {
 	// make (Foreseeing, novox/hq issue 275). Never on the wire, and a declaration that has any is never
 	// sent.
 	foreseen []string
+	// unplaced is every contribution its holder's template could not render, naming its module and
+	// why (novox/hq ADR 0255): left out of this declaration, for push and plan to say, never on the wire.
+	unplaced []string
 	// Builds is the build of each module this declaration carries — module to the commit its build
 	// was made from — recorded with the send and never on the wire (novox/hq issue 259, ADR 0221).
 	// Composed only on the send path; nil records that it is not known.

cmd/mesh-controller/signals.go

@@ -361,7 +361,6 @@ func watchWaits(f *signalFacts) []conditions.Observation {
 			Headline:    deliveryName(w.modules, w.repository) + " waiting to start",
 			Explanation: walkWaitingWords(w, in, severity),
 			Needs:       waitingNeeds(severity),
-			Actions:     waitingActions(w, severity),
 			Resolved:    deliveryName(w.modules, w.repository) + " no longer waiting"})
 	}
 	return out

internal/catalogue/backup_test.go

@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ func TestHandWrittenBackupLinesOfAnOlderModuleArePlaced(t *testing.T) {
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatal(err)
 	}
-	placed, err := seatContributions([]Manifest{pg, mail}, BackupSeat, "backup", Rendering{}, nil)
+	placed, _, err := seatContributions([]Manifest{pg, mail}, Manifest{}, BackupSeat+":"+"backup", Rendering{}, nil, nil)
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatal(err)
 	}

internal/catalogue/data_test.go

@@ -174,7 +174,7 @@ func TestTheBackupHoldersLinesAreDerivedFromTheData(t *testing.T) {
 		"resources":[{"id":"meta","type":"directory","mode":"0700"}]}`)
 	facts := map[string]string{"account-home": "/home/op"}
 	with := Rendering{Settings: SettingsBy{"media": {{From: "node", Values: map[string]any{AccessesSetting: map[string]any{"films": "/tank/films"}}}}}}
-	backup, err := seatContributions([]Manifest{pg, agent, media}, BackupSeat, BackupKindBackup, with, facts)
+	backup, _, err := seatContributions([]Manifest{pg, agent, media}, Manifest{}, BackupSeat+":"+BackupKindBackup, with, facts, nil)
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatal(err)
 	}
@@ -182,7 +182,7 @@ func TestTheBackupHoldersLinesAreDerivedFromTheData(t *testing.T) {
 	if backup != want {
 		t.Fatalf("backup lines:\n%s\nwant:\n%s", backup, want)
 	}
-	data, err := seatContributions([]Manifest{pg, agent, media}, BackupSeat, BackupKindData, with, facts)
+	data, _, err := seatContributions([]Manifest{pg, agent, media}, Manifest{}, BackupSeat+":"+BackupKindData, with, facts, nil)
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatal(err)
 	}
@@ -192,7 +192,7 @@ func TestTheBackupHoldersLinesAreDerivedFromTheData(t *testing.T) {
 	if data != want {
 		t.Fatalf("data lines:\n%s\nwant:\n%s", data, want)
 	}
-	if _, err := seatContributions([]Manifest{agent}, BackupSeat, BackupKindData, Rendering{}, nil); err == nil {
+	if _, _, err := seatContributions([]Manifest{agent}, Manifest{}, BackupSeat+":"+BackupKindData, Rendering{}, nil, nil); err == nil {
 		t.Fatal("a home directory with no account on the machine reached the holder as a placeholder")
 	}
 	// What keeps something irreplaceable depends on the machine's backup holder — it backs it up or

internal/catalogue/declaration.go

@@ -291,6 +291,10 @@ type Composed struct {
 	// as `module/name`, sorted: what the next send will make. Never set on a declaration that is
 	// sent — a placeholder in a sealed file is a credential the process cannot read.
 	Foreseen []string
+	// Unplaced is every contribution the holder's template could not render into something, each
+	// naming its module and why (novox/hq ADR 0255): that piece is left out and the machine is told
+	// everything else. Push and plan say it; the merge gate refuses a change that adds one.
+	Unplaced []string
 }
 
 // ForeseenSealed is what stands for an own secret a send will make, in a composition asked ahead of
@@ -326,8 +330,8 @@ func (r Resolution) Compose(with Rendering) (Composed, error) {
 	owner := map[string]string{}
 	received := map[string]map[string][]Contribution{}
 	leftOut := map[string]string{}
-	var foreseen []string
-	resources, err := r.compose(with, owner, received, leftOut, &foreseen)
+	var foreseen, unplaced []string
+	resources, err := r.compose(with, owner, received, leftOut, &foreseen, &unplaced)
 	if err != nil {
 		return Composed{}, err
 	}
@@ -340,8 +344,9 @@ func (r Resolution) Compose(with Rendering) (Composed, error) {
 			"sealed": with.BusMembership, "mode": "0600",
 		})
 	}
+	sort.Strings(unplaced)
 	return Composed{Resources: resources, Owner: owner, Received: received, LeftOut: leftOut,
-		Foreseen: foreseen}, nil
+		Foreseen: foreseen, Unplaced: unplaced}, nil
 }
 
 // BusMembershipID names the resource carrying a machine's membership for the new bus, and
@@ -352,7 +357,7 @@ const BusMembershipPath = "/var/lib/mesh/membership-next.json"
 
 func (r Resolution) compose(with Rendering, owner map[string]string,
 	received map[string]map[string][]Contribution, leftOut map[string]string,
-	foreseen *[]string) ([]map[string]any, error) {
+	foreseen, unplaced *[]string) ([]map[string]any, error) {
 	// **A setting is judged where it is stored, and an impossible one costs a module, not a
 	// machine** (novox/hq ADR 0163, rule 6). A definition that moved under a stored setting makes
 	// this module uncomposable; it is left out of the declaration — its held things kept, its
@@ -970,7 +975,7 @@ func (r Resolution) compose(with Rendering, owner map[string]string,
 			// seat that places them (novox/hq ADR 0203, ADR 0204). Gathered from every module on
 			// the node, as the jails are, and **last of every placeholder pass**: shell code is a
 			// shell's own syntax, full of `${…}` no pass above should ever be shown.
-			if err := contributionsInto(copied, m, r.Modules, thisMachine, with); err != nil {
+			if err := contributionsInto(copied, m, r.Modules, thisMachine, with, r.Capabilities, unplaced); err != nil {
 				return nil, err
 			}
 			copied["id"] = m.Module + "." + fmt.Sprint(resource["id"])

internal/catalogue/environment_into.go

@@ -547,7 +547,7 @@ func shellCode(modules []Manifest, shell, slot string) string {
 // `${machine:…}` some module wrote for its shell to see. So nothing runs after them, the environment
 // is filled before the shell's code is, and each is replaced in a single pass over what the holder
 // wrote, so a contributed piece is never scanned again.
-func contributionsInto(resource map[string]any, m Manifest, modules []Manifest, facts map[string]string, with Rendering) error {
+func contributionsInto(resource map[string]any, m Manifest, modules []Manifest, facts map[string]string, with Rendering, caps map[string]bool, unplaced *[]string) error {
 	if problems := append(placeholderProblems(m, resource), seatPlaceholderProblems(m, resource)...); len(problems) > 0 {
 		return fmt.Errorf("%s", problems[0])
 	}
@@ -576,10 +576,13 @@ func contributionsInto(resource map[string]any, m Manifest, modules []Manifest,
 			found := ofContributed.FindStringSubmatch(placeholder)
 			first, second, _ := strings.Cut(found[2], ":")
 			if found[1] == "contribution" {
-				placed, err := seatContributions(modules, first, second, with, facts)
+				placed, left, err := seatContributions(modules, m, found[2], with, facts, caps)
 				if err != nil && failed == nil {
 					failed = err
 				}
+				if unplaced != nil {
+					*unplaced = append(*unplaced, left...)
+				}
 				return placed
 			}
 			return shellCode(modules, first, second)

internal/catalogue/foundation_manifests_test.go

@@ -177,19 +177,8 @@ func TestTheForgeHoldsTheNpmAndGitSeats(t *testing.T) {
 // wrong on every node whose assignment differs, and wrong for a second reason on a node given the
 // port (ADR 0100). Composed through the whole path, because what proves the placeholder resolves
 // in an `env` at all is a declaration, not a manifest.
-// forgeBuilt is every artifact the forge's manifest builds: its code, and since hq ADR 0251 the npm
-// registry it serves beside it. A manifest resolves only against all of what it asked to be built.
-func forgeBuilt() []Built {
-	var out []Built
-	for _, name := range []string{"code", "npm-registry"} {
-		out = append(out, Built{Name: name, Kind: ArtifactBundle,
-			Reference: ArtifactStoreScheme + "gitea/" + name + "/blobs/" + bundleDigest, Digest: bundleDigest})
-	}
-	return out
-}
-
 func TestTheForgesOwnAddressFollowsThePortTheNodeGaveIt(t *testing.T) {
-	forge, err := catalogueManifest(t, "gitea").Resolve(forgeBuilt())
+	forge, err := catalogueManifest(t, "gitea").Resolve(forgeBuilt(catalogueManifest(t, "gitea")))
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatalf("the forge's manifest does not resolve against its own build: %v", err)
 	}
@@ -242,7 +231,7 @@ func TestTheForgesOwnAddressFollowsThePortTheNodeGaveIt(t *testing.T) {
 func declaredGiteaSsh(t *testing.T, given map[int]int) map[string]any {
 	t.Helper()
 	forge := catalogueManifest(t, "gitea")
-	resolved, err := forge.Resolve(forgeBuilt())
+	resolved, err := forge.Resolve(forgeBuilt(forge))
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatalf("the forge's manifest does not resolve against its own build: %v", err)
 	}
@@ -314,3 +303,15 @@ func TestANodeMayGiveTheForgesSshPortADifferentNumber(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatalf("the forge is published on %v, not the port this node gave it", server["ports"])
 	}
 }
+
+// forgeBuilt is a build of every artifact the forge's manifest declares: its code bundle and, since the
+// catalogue added it (novox/hq ADR 0251 §4), its npm registry's. Named from the manifest, so a third
+// artifact does not break every forge test again.
+func forgeBuilt(forge Manifest) []Built {
+	var out []Built
+	for _, a := range forge.Build.Artifacts {
+		out = append(out, Built{Name: a.Name, Kind: ArtifactBundle,
+			Reference: ArtifactStoreScheme + "gitea/" + a.Name + "/blobs/" + bundleDigest, Digest: bundleDigest})
+	}
+	return out
+}

internal/catalogue/graphical_session.go

@@ -1,5 +1,10 @@
 package catalogue
 
+import (
+	"fmt"
+	"strings"
+)
+
 // The graphical session's seats (novox/hq ADR 0208): one module per piece of software, each piece's
 // role a node seat in the mesh's own set, so i3 and sway, xterm and foot, rofi and dmenu compete for
 // a role rather than each inventing one — and a machine running two of one role is refused at
@@ -19,7 +24,8 @@ const (
 )
 
 // graphicalSessionSeats are the eleven, in the order ADR 0208's table reads, each with the verbs
-// research 026/05 starts it with. Three have none yet: the bar, the compositor and the secret
+// research 026/05 starts it with. Three have none yet: the bar (which receives blocks instead,
+// ADR 0255), the compositor and the secret
 // service are roles a second holder competes for, and nothing has needed to ask them anything.
 func graphicalSessionSeats() []Seat {
 	const decided = "novox/hq ADR 0208"
@@ -93,7 +99,11 @@ func graphicalSessionSeats() []Seat {
 			{Name: "copy", Description: "Put text on the operator's clipboard.",
 				Input: schema(map[string]string{"text": "the text"}, []string{"text"})},
 		}},
-		{Name: BarSeat, Scope: ScopeNode, Decision: decided},
+		// It receives blocks as data (novox/hq ADR 0255): what a block shows, said for any bar, which
+		// the holder renders in its own grammar. A module that knows something about the machine — the
+		// power module its battery — gives the block; the bar knows no machine's hardware.
+		{Name: BarSeat, Scope: ScopeNode, Decision: decided,
+			Receives: []Receivable{{Kind: BarKindBlock, Comment: "#", Offered: true, Shape: barBlockShape()}}},
 		{Name: CompositorSeat, Scope: ScopeNode, Decision: decided},
 		{Name: SecretServiceSeat, Scope: ScopeNode, Decision: decided},
 	}
@@ -107,3 +117,91 @@ func withEnum(s map[string]any, property string, values ...string) map[string]an
 	p["enum"] = values
 	return s
 }
+
+// BarKindBlock is the bar's one received kind: a block (novox/hq ADR 0255).
+const BarKindBlock = "block"
+
+// barShows is what a contributed block may show, and the options each takes — the bar-neutral
+// vocabulary every holder of node-bar renders. A new entry is a decision, and every holder's template
+// renders it (the shape's examples) before it is accepted.
+var barShows = map[string]map[string]barOption{
+	// The machine's battery: its charge, and how long it lasts or takes to fill.
+	"battery": {"device": {kind: "text"}},
+	// One line a command prints, run every interval seconds: what the bar cannot know itself.
+	"command": {"command": {kind: "text", required: true}, "interval": {kind: "seconds", required: true}},
+}
+
+type barOption struct {
+	kind     string // text, or seconds (a whole number from 1 to 86400)
+	required bool
+}
+
+// barBlockShape is the shape of a block (novox/hq ADR 0255): which bar, where on it, in what order,
+// what it shows, and that kind's options.
+//
+//   - bar: top or bottom;
+//   - place: resources (beside the processor, memory and disks) or status (beside the sound, before the
+//     clock) — the two places every holder keeps for contributed blocks;
+//   - order: 0–99 within the place, 50 when absent;
+//   - shows: battery or command; options: what that kind takes.
+func barBlockShape() *Shape {
+	return &Shape{
+		Places: []PlaceField{{Field: "bar", Values: []string{"bottom", "top"}},
+			{Field: "place", Values: []string{"resources", "status"}}},
+		Order: "order",
+		Check: barBlockProblems,
+		Examples: []map[string]any{
+			{"bar": "bottom", "place": "status", "shows": "battery"},
+			{"bar": "bottom", "place": "status", "shows": "battery", "options": map[string]any{"device": "BAT0"}},
+			{"bar": "bottom", "place": "status", "shows": "command",
+				"options": map[string]any{"command": "echo \"a line\"", "interval": float64(5)}},
+		},
+	}
+}
+
+func barBlockProblems(data map[string]any) []string {
+	var problems []string
+	for field := range data {
+		if !oneOf([]string{"bar", "place", "order", "shows", "options"}, field) {
+			problems = append(problems, fmt.Sprintf("a block has no field %q; it has bar, place, order, shows and options", field))
+		}
+	}
+	shows, _ := data["shows"].(string)
+	takes, known := barShows[shows]
+	if !known {
+		return append(problems, fmt.Sprintf("a block shows %v; it shows one of %s", data["shows"],
+			strings.Join(sortedKeys(barShows), ", ")))
+	}
+	options := map[string]any{}
+	if raw, has := data["options"]; has {
+		o, ok := raw.(map[string]any)
+		if !ok {
+			return append(problems, "a block's options are an object")
+		}
+		options = o
+	}
+	for name, v := range options {
+		opt, ok := takes[name]
+		if !ok {
+			problems = append(problems, fmt.Sprintf("a %s block has no option %q; it takes %s", shows, name,
+				orNothing(sortedKeys(takes))))
+			continue
+		}
+		switch opt.kind {
+		case "text":
+			if t, isText := v.(string); !isText || strings.TrimSpace(t) == "" {
+				problems = append(problems, fmt.Sprintf("a %s block's %s is text", shows, name))
+			}
+		case "seconds":
+			if _, whole := wholeIn(v, 1, 86400); !whole {
+				problems = append(problems, fmt.Sprintf("a %s block's %s is a whole number of seconds from 1 to 86400", shows, name))
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	for _, name := range sortedKeys(takes) {
+		if _, has := options[name]; takes[name].required && !has {
+			problems = append(problems, fmt.Sprintf("a %s block needs the option %s", shows, name))
+		}
+	}
+	return problems
+}

internal/catalogue/manifest.go

@@ -60,6 +60,10 @@ type Claim struct {
 	// module's own `tools` must list every verb the seat promises, which is how a module named
 	// like its seat — the catalogue, the records — says they are one and the same.
 	Serves []string `json:"serves,omitempty"`
+	// Renders is how this holder writes each kind its seat receives as data, by kind: a Go
+	// text/template over one piece — its fields and `module` — in the tool's own grammar (novox/hq ADR
+	// 0255). The data is the mesh's, the format the holder's, as a module's facts template is.
+	Renders map[string]string `json:"renders,omitempty"`
 }
 
 // ServesFor is what this claim offers a seat's protocol: the verbs it names, else the module's
@@ -2030,6 +2034,7 @@ func ParseManifest(raw []byte) (Manifest, error) {
 	problems = append(problems, m.shellProblems()...)
 	problems = append(problems, m.contributionPlaceholderProblems()...)
 	problems = append(problems, m.seatContributionProblems()...)
+	problems = append(problems, m.placementProblems()...)
 	problems = append(problems, m.dataProblems()...)
 	problems = append(problems, m.upgradeProblems()...)
 

internal/catalogue/resolve.go

@@ -134,6 +134,10 @@ type Resolution struct {
 	// here without a store lookup.
 	Account     string
 	AccountHome string
+	// Capabilities are the machine's, as its profile reported them, carried from the node so a
+	// contribution placed only where the machine has something (`if-capability`, novox/hq ADR 0255)
+	// is decided here without a store lookup.
+	Capabilities map[string]bool
 
 	// Modules in the order they were resolved: assigned first, then what they pulled in.
 	Modules []Manifest
@@ -699,7 +703,7 @@ func Resolve(catalogue map[string]Manifest, assigned []string, node Node, world
 	}
 
 	resolution := Resolution{Node: node.Name, At: node.At, PublicDomain: node.PublicDomain,
-		Account: node.Account, AccountHome: node.AccountHome,
+		Account: node.Account, AccountHome: node.AccountHome, Capabilities: node.Capabilities,
 		Because: because, Needs: needs, Unhostable: unhostable, Kept: kept}
 	for _, n := range providersFirst(order, catalogue) {
 		resolution.Modules = append(resolution.Modules, catalogue[n])

internal/catalogue/seat_contributions.go

@@ -30,7 +30,14 @@ type SeatContribution struct {
 	// Kind is which of the seat's receivable kinds it is.
 	Kind string `json:"kind"`
 	// Content is the text, in the tool's own grammar. Never interpreted.
-	Content string `json:"content"`
+	Content string `json:"content,omitempty"`
+	// Data is the piece in the seat's own shape, for a kind the seat receives as data (novox/hq ADR
+	// 0255): the holder renders it with its template, and Content is then empty.
+	Data map[string]any `json:"data,omitempty"`
+	// IfCapability names a capability the machine must report for this contribution to be placed
+	// there (novox/hq ADR 0255): a battery's block only where the node-engine found a battery. The
+	// composition decides, from the machine's facts, not the tool at run time.
+	IfCapability string `json:"if-capability,omitempty"`
 }
 
 // ofContribution is where a holder places a kind: ${contribution:<seat>:<kind>}. Loose inside the
@@ -92,7 +99,30 @@ func (m Manifest) seatContributionProblems() []string {
 				"%s's contribution %d to %s is of the kind %q; %s (novox/hq ADR 0212)",
 				m.Module, i+1, s.Name, c.Kind, kindsOf(s)))
 		}
-		if strings.TrimSpace(c.Content) == "" {
+		// Only on a kind the seat offers (novox/hq ADR 0255): a piece shown where the hardware is. On a
+		// kind a holder depends on — what a backup keeps, a key's trigger — a machine missing the
+		// capability would lose the piece without a word.
+		if c.IfCapability != "" {
+			switch {
+			case !capabilityName.MatchString(c.IfCapability):
+				problems = append(problems, fmt.Sprintf("%s's contribution %d is if-capability %q, which is not a "+
+					"capability's name", m.Module, i+1, c.IfCapability))
+			case !oneOf(KnownCapabilities, c.IfCapability):
+				problems = append(problems, fmt.Sprintf("%s's contribution %d is if-capability %q, which no machine "+
+					"reports; the node-engine detects %s", m.Module, i+1, c.IfCapability, strings.Join(KnownCapabilities, ", ")))
+			case ok && !r.Offered:
+				problems = append(problems, fmt.Sprintf("%s's contribution %d to %s (%s) is if-capability %s; only a "+
+					"kind the seat offers may be left out where a machine lacks something (novox/hq ADR 0255)",
+					m.Module, i+1, s.Name, c.Kind, c.IfCapability))
+			}
+		}
+		switch {
+		case ok && r.Shape != nil:
+			problems = append(problems, shapedProblems(m.Module, i, r, c)...)
+		case len(c.Data) > 0:
+			problems = append(problems, fmt.Sprintf("%s's contribution %d has data; %s receives %s as text, "+
+				"given as `content`", m.Module, i+1, s.Name, c.Kind))
+		case strings.TrimSpace(c.Content) == "":
 			problems = append(problems, fmt.Sprintf("%s's contribution %d has no content", m.Module, i+1))
 		}
 	}
@@ -120,8 +150,15 @@ func seatPlaceholderProblems(m Manifest, r map[string]any) []string {
 			continue
 		}
 		for _, f := range found {
-			seat, kind, two := strings.Cut(f[1], ":")
-			s, _, ok := receivable(seat, kind)
+			seat, rest, two := strings.Cut(f[1], ":")
+			// A kind received as data may be narrowed by its shape's placing fields (novox/hq ADR 0255).
+			kind, where, _ := strings.Cut(rest, ":")
+			s, rcv, ok := receivable(seat, kind)
+			if two && ok {
+				if _, err := placeholderWhere(rcv, where); err != nil {
+					problems = append(problems, fmt.Sprintf("%s's resource %v names %s: %v", m.Module, r["id"], f[0], err))
+				}
+			}
 			if !two || !ok {
 				detail := "the mesh defines no seat " + fmt.Sprintf("%q", seat)
 				if s.Name != "" {
@@ -152,17 +189,33 @@ func seatPlaceholderProblems(m Manifest, r map[string]any) []string {
 // A directory placed in a person's home is named `${machine:account-home}/…` (novox/hq to-be 29); in a
 // kind that takes directories that is filled from the machine's facts as well, so the holder reads a
 // path, never a placeholder (novox/hq ADR 0233: an item in the operator's home is backed up too).
-func seatContributions(modules []Manifest, seat, kind string, with Rendering, facts map[string]string) (string, error) {
+//
+// A kind received as data is rendered through the holder's template instead, narrowed by where
+// (novox/hq ADR 0255); and a contribution naming a capability this machine did not report is left
+// out, of either form.
+//
+// What it could not render is answered as unplaced, each naming its module and why, and left out: one
+// piece the holder's template does not know is that piece's fault, not the machine's.
+func seatContributions(modules []Manifest, holder Manifest, placeholder string, with Rendering, facts map[string]string, caps map[string]bool) (string, []string, error) {
+	seat, rest, _ := strings.Cut(placeholder, ":")
+	kind, whereText, _ := strings.Cut(rest, ":")
 	s, r, ok := receivable(seat, kind)
 	if !ok {
-		return "", nil
+		return "", nil, nil
+	}
+	if r.Shape != nil {
+		where, err := placeholderWhere(r, whereText)
+		if err != nil {
+			return "", nil, err
+		}
+		return shapedContributions(modules, holder, s, r, where, caps)
 	}
 	var failed error
 	var b strings.Builder
 	for _, m := range inModuleOrder(modules) {
 		named := false
 		for _, c := range m.allContributions() {
-			if c.Kind != kind {
+			if c.Kind != kind || !capable(c, caps) {
 				continue
 			}
 			if cs, known := SeatNamed(c.Seat); !known || cs.Name != s.Name {
@@ -207,5 +260,5 @@ func seatContributions(modules []Manifest, seat, kind string, with Rendering, fa
 			}
 		}
 	}
-	return b.String(), failed
+	return b.String(), nil, failed
 }

internal/catalogue/seat_data.go

@@ -0,0 +1,402 @@
+package catalogue
+
+import (
+	"bytes"
+	"encoding/json"
+	"fmt"
+	"math"
+	"regexp"
+	"sort"
+	"strings"
+	"text/template"
+)
+
+// A kind a seat receives as data, rendered by its holder (novox/hq ADR 0255).
+//
+// ADR 0212 made a contribution text in the tool's own grammar, which the controller places and never
+// reads. That is right where the tool is the seat's for good — a hotkey daemon's trigger lines — and
+// wrong where the seat's whole point is that its tool can be replaced: a module adding a battery to the
+// bar would write i3status-rust's TOML, and a second bar would have to read it. So a seat may define a
+// kind as data instead. The seat says the data's shape; a contributor gives data in that shape; the
+// holder gives a template that renders one piece of it into its tool's grammar, as a module's facts
+// template renders the roster (`facts`): the data is the mesh's, the format is the holder's.
+//
+// What the holder places is narrowed by the shape's placing fields — the bar's `bar` and `place` — in
+// the placeholder, `${contribution:<seat>:<kind>:<field>=<value>,…}`, and every combination of them is
+// placed by the holder exactly once, so nothing a module contributes is dropped by a holder that forgot
+// a corner of the shape.
+
+// Shape is what a kind received as data looks like.
+type Shape struct {
+	// Places are the fields a holder narrows its placeholders by, each with every value it takes.
+	Places []PlaceField
+	// Order is the whole-number field that orders the pieces within one placeholder (lowest first,
+	// then module order); absent in a piece means OrderDefault.
+	Order string
+	// Check is what else is wrong with one piece's data, beyond its placing fields and its order.
+	Check func(data map[string]any) []string `json:"-"`
+	// Examples are pieces every holder's template must render, one for each variant the shape has,
+	// so a holder that cannot render one is refused at registration and not found on a machine.
+	Examples []map[string]any
+}
+
+// PlaceField is one field a holder places by, and the values it takes.
+type PlaceField struct {
+	Field  string
+	Values []string
+}
+
+// OrderDefault is a piece's order when it gives none: the middle of 0–99.
+const OrderDefault = 50
+
+// capabilityName is the shape of a capability's name, as a node's profile reports it.
+var capabilityName = regexp.MustCompile(`^[a-z0-9][a-z0-9-]*$`)
+
+// KnownCapabilities is every capability the node-engine detects (mesh-host internal/profile), the
+// names an `if-capability` may give (novox/hq ADR 0255). A name nothing detects would leave its
+// contribution out on every machine, silently, so it is refused. A detector added there is added here.
+var KnownCapabilities = []string{
+	"battery", "container-runtime", "firewall", "graphical-session", "overlay", "package-manager",
+	"power-meter", "privileged", "seat", "service-manager", "uplink-dhcpcd", "uplink-networkmanager",
+	"uplink-systemd-networkd", "virtualisation",
+}
+
+// renderFuncs are the functions a holder's template may call. `quote` writes a value as a JSON
+// string with DEL escaped as well — JSON leaves it bare, and TOML refuses it — which makes it a valid
+// basic string in TOML and in most tools' grammars, so a contributed command with quotes or control
+// characters in it cannot break out of the holder's line.
+var renderFuncs = template.FuncMap{"quote": quote}
+
+func quote(v any) (string, error) {
+	b, err := json.Marshal(fmt.Sprint(v))
+	return strings.ReplaceAll(string(b), "\x7f", `\u007f`), err
+}
+
+// shapedProblems is what is wrong with one contribution of a kind received as data.
+func shapedProblems(module string, i int, r Receivable, c SeatContribution) []string {
+	var problems []string
+	at := fmt.Sprintf("%s's contribution %d to %s (%s)", module, i+1, c.Seat, c.Kind)
+	if strings.TrimSpace(c.Content) != "" {
+		problems = append(problems, at+" has content; this kind is data, given as `data` (novox/hq ADR 0255)")
+	}
+	if len(c.Data) == 0 {
+		return append(problems, at+" has no data")
+	}
+	for _, p := range r.Shape.Places {
+		v, _ := c.Data[p.Field].(string)
+		if !oneOf(p.Values, v) {
+			problems = append(problems, fmt.Sprintf("%s says %s %q; it is one of %s",
+				at, p.Field, fmt.Sprint(c.Data[p.Field]), strings.Join(p.Values, ", ")))
+		}
+	}
+	if r.Shape.Order != "" {
+		if v, has := c.Data[r.Shape.Order]; has {
+			if _, ok := wholeIn(v, 0, 99); !ok {
+				problems = append(problems, fmt.Sprintf("%s says %s %v; it is a whole number from 0 to 99",
+					at, r.Shape.Order, v))
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	if r.Shape.Check != nil {
+		for _, p := range r.Shape.Check(c.Data) {
+			problems = append(problems, at+": "+p)
+		}
+	}
+	return problems
+}
+
+// wholeIn is v as a whole number within [lo, hi]; JSON gives every number as a float.
+func wholeIn(v any, lo, hi int) (int, bool) {
+	f, ok := v.(float64)
+	if !ok {
+		if i, isInt := v.(int); isInt {
+			f, ok = float64(i), true
+		}
+	}
+	if !ok || f != math.Trunc(f) || f < float64(lo) || f > float64(hi) {
+		return 0, false
+	}
+	return int(f), true
+}
+
+// placeholderWhere parses the narrowing part of a placeholder, `bar=bottom,place=status`, against the
+// kind's shape. Empty narrows nothing.
+func placeholderWhere(r Receivable, where string) (map[string]string, error) {
+	out := map[string]string{}
+	if where == "" {
+		return out, nil
+	}
+	if r.Shape == nil {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("%s is text, which a placeholder does not narrow", r.Kind)
+	}
+	for _, pair := range strings.Split(where, ",") {
+		field, value, ok := strings.Cut(pair, "=")
+		var p *PlaceField
+		for i := range r.Shape.Places {
+			if r.Shape.Places[i].Field == field {
+				p = &r.Shape.Places[i]
+			}
+		}
+		switch {
+		case !ok || p == nil:
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("%q narrows by %s, and %s is placed by %s", where, field, r.Kind, placeFields(r))
+		case !oneOf(p.Values, value):
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("%q says %s=%s; %s is one of %s", where, field, value, field, strings.Join(p.Values, ", "))
+		case out[field] != "":
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("%q names %s twice", where, field)
+		}
+		out[field] = value
+	}
+	return out, nil
+}
+
+func placeFields(r Receivable) string {
+	var names []string
+	for _, p := range r.Shape.Places {
+		names = append(names, p.Field)
+	}
+	return strings.Join(names, ", ")
+}
+
+// holderTemplate is the holder's template for a kind, parsed.
+func holderTemplate(holder Manifest, seat Seat, kind string) (*template.Template, error) {
+	for _, c := range holder.Claims {
+		if s, known := SeatNamed(c.Name); !known || s.Name != seat.Name {
+			continue
+		}
+		text, has := c.Renders[kind]
+		if !has || strings.TrimSpace(text) == "" {
+			break
+		}
+		t, err := template.New(seat.Name + ":" + kind).Funcs(renderFuncs).Parse(text)
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("%s's template for %s:%s does not parse: %v", holder.Module, seat.Name, kind, err)
+		}
+		return t, nil
+	}
+	return nil, fmt.Errorf("%s places %s:%s, which is data, and its claim gives no template for it in `renders` "+
+		"(novox/hq ADR 0255)", holder.Module, seat.Name, kind)
+}
+
+// renderPiece is one piece of data in the holder's grammar. The template sees the piece's fields and
+// `module`, the contributor. A value the piece does not have reads as nothing in a `with` or an `if`;
+// printed bare it would write `<no value>` into the tool's file, which is refused here instead.
+func renderPiece(t *template.Template, module string, data map[string]any) (string, error) {
+	view := map[string]any{"module": module}
+	for k, v := range data {
+		view[k] = v
+	}
+	var b bytes.Buffer
+	if err := t.Execute(&b, view); err != nil {
+		return "", fmt.Errorf("rendering %s's piece: %v", module, err)
+	}
+	out := b.String()
+	if strings.Contains(out, "<no value>") {
+		return "", fmt.Errorf("rendering %s's piece printed a value it does not have: %q", module, out)
+	}
+	return out, nil
+}
+
+// placedPiece is one contributed piece on its way into a holder's file.
+type placedPiece struct {
+	module string
+	data   map[string]any
+	order  int
+}
+
+// shapedContributions is every module's data of one kind to one seat, narrowed by where and by the
+// machine's capabilities, ordered, and rendered through the holder's template — each piece under a
+// comment line naming its module.
+//
+// A piece the template renders to nothing — a `shows` the holder does not know yet — or fails on is
+// left out and answered as unplaced, naming its module: the other pieces and the rest of the machine's
+// declaration go on (novox/hq ADR 0255).
+func shapedContributions(modules []Manifest, holder Manifest, s Seat, r Receivable, where map[string]string, caps map[string]bool) (string, []string, error) {
+	var pieces []placedPiece
+	for _, m := range inModuleOrder(modules) {
+		for _, c := range m.allContributions() {
+			if c.Kind != r.Kind || !capable(c, caps) {
+				continue
+			}
+			if cs, known := SeatNamed(c.Seat); !known || cs.Name != s.Name {
+				continue
+			}
+			match := true
+			for field, value := range where {
+				if v, _ := c.Data[field].(string); v != value {
+					match = false
+				}
+			}
+			if !match {
+				continue
+			}
+			order := OrderDefault
+			if v, ok := wholeIn(c.Data[r.Shape.Order], 0, 99); ok {
+				order = v
+			}
+			pieces = append(pieces, placedPiece{module: m.Module, data: c.Data, order: order})
+		}
+	}
+	if len(pieces) == 0 {
+		return "", nil, nil
+	}
+	t, err := holderTemplate(holder, s, r.Kind)
+	if err != nil {
+		return "", nil, err
+	}
+	sort.SliceStable(pieces, func(a, b int) bool { return pieces[a].order < pieces[b].order })
+	var b strings.Builder
+	var unplaced []string
+	for _, p := range pieces {
+		out, err := renderPiece(t, p.module, p.data)
+		if err == nil && strings.TrimSpace(out) == "" {
+			err = fmt.Errorf("%s's template renders nothing for it", holder.Module)
+		}
+		if err != nil {
+			unplaced = append(unplaced, fmt.Sprintf("%s's %s:%s %s is not placed by %s: %v",
+				p.module, s.Name, r.Kind, describePiece(p.data), holder.Module, err))
+			continue
+		}
+		fmt.Fprintf(&b, "%s %s\n", r.Comment, p.module)
+		b.WriteString(out)
+		if !strings.HasSuffix(out, "\n") {
+			b.WriteString("\n")
+		}
+	}
+	return b.String(), unplaced, nil
+}
+
+// describePiece is a piece in one line, its fields in order, for a person reading why it was left out.
+func describePiece(data map[string]any) string {
+	var parts []string
+	for _, k := range sortedKeys(data) {
+		if _, nested := data[k].(map[string]any); nested {
+			continue
+		}
+		parts = append(parts, fmt.Sprintf("%s=%v", k, data[k]))
+	}
+	return "(" + strings.Join(parts, " ") + ")"
+}
+
+// capable is whether a contribution applies on a machine with these capabilities: always, unless it
+// names one with `if-capability` the machine did not report (novox/hq ADR 0255). A machine whose
+// capabilities are not known has none, so a conditional piece is left out rather than guessed in.
+func capable(c SeatContribution, caps map[string]bool) bool {
+	return c.IfCapability == "" || caps[c.IfCapability]
+}
+
+// placementProblems is what is wrong with how a holder places the kinds its seats receive as data:
+// once it places one at all, it needs a template that renders every example of the shape, and every combination of the placing
+// fields placed exactly once across its files — or something contributed would be dropped, or written
+// twice (novox/hq ADR 0255).
+func (m Manifest) placementProblems() []string {
+	var problems []string
+	for _, c := range m.Claims {
+		s, known := SeatNamed(c.Name)
+		if !known {
+			continue
+		}
+		for _, r := range s.Receives {
+			// A holder that places none of the kind is older than it (novox/hq ADR 0255): refusing it
+			// would refuse every bar registered before the kind existed, and the controller that
+			// defines the kind ships first. Its contributions wait, unplaced, until it places them.
+			if r.Shape == nil || !placesKind(m, s, r.Kind) {
+				continue
+			}
+			t, err := holderTemplate(m, s, r.Kind)
+			if err != nil {
+				problems = append(problems, err.Error())
+				continue
+			}
+			for _, ex := range r.Shape.Examples {
+				if out, err := renderPiece(t, "example", ex); err != nil || strings.TrimSpace(out) == "" {
+					problems = append(problems, fmt.Sprintf("%s's template for %s:%s renders nothing for %v: %v",
+						m.Module, s.Name, r.Kind, ex, err))
+				}
+			}
+			placed := map[string]int{}
+			for _, res := range m.Resources {
+				content, _ := res["content"].(string)
+				for _, f := range ofContribution.FindAllStringSubmatch(content, -1) {
+					seat, rest, _ := strings.Cut(f[1], ":")
+					kind, whereText, _ := strings.Cut(rest, ":")
+					if cs, ok := SeatNamed(seat); !ok || cs.Name != s.Name || kind != r.Kind {
+						continue
+					}
+					where, err := placeholderWhere(r, whereText)
+					if err != nil {
+						continue // said by seatPlaceholderProblems
+					}
+					for _, combo := range combinations(r.Shape.Places) {
+						if covers(where, combo) {
+							placed[comboKey(combo)]++
+						}
+					}
+				}
+			}
+			for _, combo := range combinations(r.Shape.Places) {
+				switch n := placed[comboKey(combo)]; {
+				case n == 0:
+					problems = append(problems, fmt.Sprintf("%s never places %s:%s for %s; every combination of %s is "+
+						"placed once, or a contribution to it is lost (novox/hq ADR 0255)",
+						m.Module, s.Name, r.Kind, comboKey(combo), placeFields(r)))
+				case n > 1:
+					problems = append(problems, fmt.Sprintf("%s places %s:%s for %s %d times; once, or a contribution "+
+						"is written twice (novox/hq ADR 0255)", m.Module, s.Name, r.Kind, comboKey(combo), n))
+				}
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	return problems
+}
+
+// placesKind is whether any of a holder's files names the kind's placeholder.
+func placesKind(m Manifest, s Seat, kind string) bool {
+	for _, res := range m.Resources {
+		content, _ := res["content"].(string)
+		for _, f := range ofContribution.FindAllStringSubmatch(content, -1) {
+			seat, rest, _ := strings.Cut(f[1], ":")
+			k, _, _ := strings.Cut(rest, ":")
+			if cs, ok := SeatNamed(seat); ok && cs.Name == s.Name && k == kind {
+				return true
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	return false
+}
+
+// combinations is every assignment of a value to each placing field.
+func combinations(places []PlaceField) []map[string]string {
+	out := []map[string]string{{}}
+	for _, p := range places {
+		var next []map[string]string
+		for _, partial := range out {
+			for _, v := range p.Values {
+				c := map[string]string{p.Field: v}
+				for k, w := range partial {
+					c[k] = w
+				}
+				next = append(next, c)
+			}
+		}
+		out = next
+	}
+	return out
+}
+
+func covers(where, combo map[string]string) bool {
+	for field, value := range where {
+		if combo[field] != value {
+			return false
+		}
+	}
+	return true
+}
+
+func comboKey(combo map[string]string) string {
+	var parts []string
+	for _, k := range sortedKeys(combo) {
+		parts = append(parts, k+"="+combo[k])
+	}
+	return strings.Join(parts, ",")
+}

internal/catalogue/seat_data_test.go

@@ -0,0 +1,354 @@
+package catalogue
+
+import (
+	"encoding/json"
+	"fmt"
+	"strconv"
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+)
+
+// Defends novox/hq ADR 0255: a seat may receive a kind as data in its own shape, which the holder
+// renders with its template; the holder places every combination of the shape's placing fields once;
+// a contribution may be placed only where the machine reports a capability; and an offered kind makes
+// no dependency on its seat.
+
+const barTemplate = `{{if eq .shows "battery"}}[[block]]
+block = "battery"
+{{with .options}}{{with .device}}device = {{quote .}}
+{{end}}{{end}}{{else if eq .shows "command"}}[[block]]
+block = "custom"
+command = {{quote .options.command}}
+interval = {{.options.interval}}
+{{end}}`
+
+func barHolder() Manifest {
+	place := func(bar string) string {
+		return "own-first\n${contribution:node-bar:block:bar=" + bar + ",place=resources}" +
+			"own-middle\n${contribution:node-bar:block:bar=" + bar + ",place=status}own-last\n"
+	}
+	return Manifest{Module: "a-bar", Claims: []Claim{{Name: BarSeat, Renders: map[string]string{BarKindBlock: barTemplate}}},
+		Resources: []map[string]any{
+			{"id": "bottom", "type": "file", "path": "/b", "content": place("bottom")},
+			{"id": "top", "type": "file", "path": "/t", "content": place("top")},
+		}}
+}
+
+func block(data string) SeatContribution {
+	var d map[string]any
+	if err := json.Unmarshal([]byte(data), &d); err != nil {
+		panic(err)
+	}
+	return SeatContribution{Seat: BarSeat, Kind: BarKindBlock, Data: d}
+}
+
+func composedFile(t *testing.T, r Resolution, id string) string {
+	t.Helper()
+	out, err := r.Declaration(Rendering{})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	for _, res := range out {
+		if res["id"] == id {
+			return res["content"].(string)
+		}
+	}
+	t.Fatalf("%s was not composed", id)
+	return ""
+}
+
+func TestABlockIsRenderedByTheHolderInItsPlaceAndOrderNamedByModule(t *testing.T) {
+	power := Manifest{Module: "power", Contributions: []SeatContribution{
+		block(`{"bar":"bottom","place":"status","shows":"battery"}`),
+		block(`{"bar":"bottom","place":"status","order":20,"shows":"command","options":{"command":"draw \"now\"","interval":5}}`),
+	}}
+	other := Manifest{Module: "another", Contributions: []SeatContribution{
+		block(`{"bar":"bottom","place":"status","order":70,"shows":"battery","options":{"device":"BAT1"}}`),
+		block(`{"bar":"top","place":"resources","shows":"command","options":{"command":"up","interval":60}}`),
+	}}
+	r := Resolution{Node: "laptop", Account: "op", Modules: []Manifest{barHolder(), power, other}}
+
+	// Ordered by order (20, 50, 70), then module order; each piece under its module's name; the
+	// command quoted so its own quotes cannot end the line.
+	want := "own-first\nown-middle\n" +
+		"# power\n[[block]]\nblock = \"custom\"\ncommand = \"draw \\\"now\\\"\"\ninterval = 5\n" +
+		"# power\n[[block]]\nblock = \"battery\"\n" +
+		"# another\n[[block]]\nblock = \"battery\"\ndevice = \"BAT1\"\n" +
+		"own-last\n"
+	if got := composedFile(t, r, "a-bar.bottom"); got != want {
+		t.Fatalf("the bottom bar is\n%s\nnot\n%s", got, want)
+	}
+	want = "own-first\n# another\n[[block]]\nblock = \"custom\"\ncommand = \"up\"\ninterval = 60\nown-middle\nown-last\n"
+	if got := composedFile(t, r, "a-bar.top"); got != want {
+		t.Fatalf("the top bar is\n%s\nnot\n%s", got, want)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestAContributionIfACapabilityIsPlacedOnlyWhereTheMachineReportsIt(t *testing.T) {
+	c := block(`{"bar":"bottom","place":"status","shows":"battery"}`)
+	c.IfCapability = "battery"
+	power := Manifest{Module: "power", Contributions: []SeatContribution{c}}
+	for _, c := range []struct {
+		caps map[string]bool
+		has  bool
+	}{{map[string]bool{"battery": true}, true}, {map[string]bool{"seat": true}, false}, {nil, false}} {
+		r := Resolution{Node: "n", Account: "op", Capabilities: c.caps, Modules: []Manifest{barHolder(), power}}
+		if bar := composedFile(t, r, "a-bar.bottom"); strings.Contains(bar, `block = "battery"`) != c.has {
+			t.Errorf("with %v: the battery placed is not %v:\n%s", c.caps, c.has, bar)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+func TestIfACapabilityNamesOneTheNodeEngineDetectsOnAnOfferedKindOnly(t *testing.T) {
+	cases := map[string]string{
+		// A name nothing detects would leave the piece out on every machine.
+		`{"seat":"node-bar","kind":"block","if-capability":"batery","data":{"bar":"top","place":"status","shows":"battery"}}`: "which no machine reports",
+		// A kind the holder depends on is never left out for want of something.
+		`{"seat":"node-hotkeys","kind":"trigger","if-capability":"battery","content":"KEY_BATTERY 1 x"}`: "only a kind the seat offers",
+		`{"seat":"node-backup","kind":"backup","if-capability":"seat","content":"path /x"}`:              "only a kind the seat offers",
+	}
+	for c, want := range cases {
+		raw := `{"module":"power","contributions":[` + c + `]}`
+		if _, err := ParseManifest([]byte(raw)); err == nil || !strings.Contains(err.Error(), want) {
+			t.Errorf("%s: accepted, or refused without %q: %v", c, want, err)
+		}
+	}
+	for _, name := range []string{"battery", "power-meter", "seat"} {
+		if !oneOf(KnownCapabilities, name) {
+			t.Errorf("%s is not a known capability", name)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+func TestResolveCarriesTheMachinesCapabilities(t *testing.T) {
+	node := workstation()
+	node.Capabilities["battery"] = true
+	r, err := Resolve(shelf(Manifest{Module: "a"}), []string{"a"}, node, World{})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if !r.Capabilities["battery"] || !r.Capabilities["seat"] {
+		t.Fatalf("the resolution carries %v, not the node's %v", r.Capabilities, node.Capabilities)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestAPieceTheHolderCannotRenderIsLeftOutAndNamedNotTheMachine(t *testing.T) {
+	// A shows the shape gained after the holder's template was written: built here, past the check.
+	power := Manifest{Module: "power", Contributions: []SeatContribution{
+		block(`{"bar":"bottom","place":"status","shows":"gpu"}`),
+		block(`{"bar":"bottom","place":"status","shows":"battery"}`),
+	}}
+	r := Resolution{Node: "n", Account: "op", Modules: []Manifest{barHolder(), power}}
+	c, err := r.Compose(Rendering{})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("one piece failed the whole machine: %v", err)
+	}
+	if len(c.Unplaced) != 1 || !strings.Contains(c.Unplaced[0], "power's node-bar:block") ||
+		!strings.Contains(c.Unplaced[0], "shows=gpu") || !strings.Contains(c.Unplaced[0], "renders nothing") {
+		t.Fatalf("unplaced: %v", c.Unplaced)
+	}
+	for _, res := range c.Resources {
+		if res["id"] == "a-bar.bottom" && !strings.Contains(res["content"].(string), `block = "battery"`) {
+			t.Fatalf("the piece beside it was lost too: %s", res["content"])
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+func TestTheCataloguesBarRendersEveryExampleOfTheShape(t *testing.T) {
+	holder := catalogueManifest(t, "i3status-rust")
+	s, _ := SeatNamed(BarSeat)
+	if !placesKind(holder, s, BarKindBlock) {
+		t.Skip("the catalogue beside this checkout has a bar that places no blocks yet")
+	}
+	tmpl, err := holderTemplate(holder, s, BarKindBlock)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	for _, ex := range s.Receives[0].Shape.Examples {
+		out, err := renderPiece(tmpl, "example", ex)
+		if err != nil || !strings.Contains(out, "[[block]]") {
+			t.Errorf("the catalogue's bar renders %v as %q: %v", ex, out, err)
+		}
+	}
+	for shows := range barShows {
+		covered := false
+		for _, ex := range s.Receives[0].Shape.Examples {
+			covered = covered || ex["shows"] == shows
+		}
+		if !covered {
+			t.Errorf("the shape has no example that shows %s, so no holder is made to render it", shows)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+func TestQuoteIsATomlBasicStringOfTheSameText(t *testing.T) {
+	for _, in := range []string{`plain`, `say "hi" \ there`, "tab\tnew\nline", "del\x7fend", "nul\x00 esc\x1b", "<&> é ☃"} {
+		q, err := quote(in)
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
+		got, err := tomlBasicString(q)
+		if err != nil || got != in {
+			t.Errorf("quote(%q) = %s, which TOML reads as %q: %v", in, q, got, err)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+// tomlBasicString reads one TOML basic string, as the TOML specification (1.0, "String") defines it:
+// any character but a quote, a backslash and the control characters U+0000–U+0008, U+000A–U+001F
+// and U+007F, which are written as escapes.
+func tomlBasicString(s string) (string, error) {
+	if len(s) < 2 || s[0] != '"' || s[len(s)-1] != '"' {
+		return "", fmt.Errorf("not quoted")
+	}
+	var b strings.Builder
+	rs := []rune(s[1 : len(s)-1])
+	for i := 0; i < len(rs); i++ {
+		r := rs[i]
+		switch {
+		case r == '"':
+			return "", fmt.Errorf("a bare quote at %d", i)
+		case r == 0x7f || (r < 0x20 && r != '\t'):
+			return "", fmt.Errorf("a bare control character %U at %d", r, i)
+		case r != '\\':
+			b.WriteRune(r)
+			continue
+		}
+		i++
+		if i >= len(rs) {
+			return "", fmt.Errorf("an escape at the end")
+		}
+		switch rs[i] {
+		case 'b':
+			b.WriteRune('\b')
+		case 't':
+			b.WriteRune('\t')
+		case 'n':
+			b.WriteRune('\n')
+		case 'f':
+			b.WriteRune('\f')
+		case 'r':
+			b.WriteRune('\r')
+		case '"':
+			b.WriteRune('"')
+		case '\\':
+			b.WriteRune('\\')
+		case 'u', 'U':
+			n := 4
+			if rs[i] == 'U' {
+				n = 8
+			}
+			if i+n > len(rs)-1 {
+				return "", fmt.Errorf("a short \\u escape")
+			}
+			v, err := strconv.ParseUint(string(rs[i+1:i+1+n]), 16, 32)
+			if err != nil {
+				return "", err
+			}
+			b.WriteRune(rune(v))
+			i += n
+		default:
+			return "", fmt.Errorf("the escape \\%c is not TOML's", rs[i])
+		}
+	}
+	return b.String(), nil
+}
+
+func TestABlockOutsideTheShapeIsRefused(t *testing.T) {
+	cases := map[string]string{
+		`{"seat":"node-bar","kind":"block","content":"[[block]]"}`:                                                                          "has no data",
+		`{"seat":"node-bar","kind":"block","content":"x","data":{"bar":"top","place":"status","shows":"battery"}}`:                          "has content",
+		`{"seat":"node-hotkeys","kind":"trigger","data":{"a":"b"}}`:                                                                         "receives trigger as text",
+		`{"seat":"node-bar","kind":"block","data":{"bar":"left","place":"status","shows":"battery"}}`:                                       `bar "left"`,
+		`{"seat":"node-bar","kind":"block","data":{"bar":"top","place":"middle","shows":"battery"}}`:                                        `place "middle"`,
+		`{"seat":"node-bar","kind":"block","data":{"bar":"top","place":"status","shows":"gpu"}}`:                                            "shows one of battery, command",
+		`{"seat":"node-bar","kind":"block","data":{"bar":"top","place":"status","shows":"battery","colour":"red"}}`:                         `no field "colour"`,
+		`{"seat":"node-bar","kind":"block","data":{"bar":"top","place":"status","shows":"battery","order":100}}`:                            "whole number from 0 to 99",
+		`{"seat":"node-bar","kind":"block","data":{"bar":"top","place":"status","shows":"command"}}`:                                        "needs the option command",
+		`{"seat":"node-bar","kind":"block","data":{"bar":"top","place":"status","shows":"battery","options":{"x":"y"}}}`:                    `no option "x"`,
+		`{"seat":"node-bar","kind":"block","data":{"bar":"top","place":"status","shows":"command","options":{"command":"c","interval":0}}}`: "seconds",
+		`{"seat":"node-bar","kind":"block","if-capability":"Has Battery","data":{"bar":"top","place":"status","shows":"battery"}}`:          "not a capability",
+	}
+	for c, want := range cases {
+		raw := `{"module":"power","contributions":[` + c + `]}`
+		if _, err := ParseManifest([]byte(raw)); err == nil || !strings.Contains(err.Error(), want) {
+			t.Errorf("%s: accepted, or refused without %q: %v", c, want, err)
+		}
+	}
+	ok := `{"module":"power","contributions":[{"seat":"node-bar","kind":"block","if-capability":"battery",` +
+		`"data":{"bar":"bottom","place":"status","order":10,"shows":"command","options":{"command":"c","interval":5}}}]}`
+	if _, err := ParseManifest([]byte(ok)); err != nil {
+		t.Errorf("a block in the shape was refused: %v", err)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestAHolderPlacesEveryCombinationOnceWithATemplateThatRendersEveryExample(t *testing.T) {
+	holder := func(template string, contents ...string) string {
+		var res []string
+		for i, c := range contents {
+			b, _ := json.Marshal(c)
+			res = append(res, `{"id":"f`+string(rune('a'+i))+`","type":"file","path":"/f`+string(rune('a'+i))+`","content":`+string(b)+`}`)
+		}
+		tb, _ := json.Marshal(template)
+		renders := ""
+		if template != "" {
+			renders = `,"renders":{"block":` + string(tb) + `}`
+		}
+		return `{"module":"a-bar","claims":[{"name":"node-bar"` + renders + `}],"resources":[` + strings.Join(res, ",") + `]}`
+	}
+	all := "${contribution:node-bar:block:bar=bottom,place=resources}${contribution:node-bar:block:bar=bottom,place=status}" +
+		"${contribution:node-bar:block:bar=top,place=resources}${contribution:node-bar:block:bar=top,place=status}"
+	cases := map[string]string{
+		holder(barTemplate, "${contribution:node-bar:block:bar=bottom}"):        "never places node-bar:block for bar=top,place=resources",
+		holder(barTemplate, all, "${contribution:node-bar:block:place=status}"): "for bar=bottom,place=status 2 times",
+		holder("", all): "gives no template",
+		holder(`{{if eq .shows "battery"}}b{{end}}`, all):                    "renders nothing",
+		holder(`{{.nothing}}`, all):                                          "renders nothing",
+		holder(`{{if}`, all):                                                 "does not parse",
+		holder(barTemplate, "${contribution:node-bar:block:bar=left}"+all):   "bar is one of bottom, top",
+		holder(barTemplate, "${contribution:node-bar:block:colour=red}"+all): "placed by bar, place",
+		holder(barTemplate, "${contribution:node-hotkeys:trigger:bar=top}"):  "does not claim node-hotkeys",
+	}
+	for raw, want := range cases {
+		if _, err := ParseManifest([]byte(raw)); err == nil || !strings.Contains(err.Error(), want) {
+			t.Errorf("%s:\naccepted, or refused without %q: %v", raw, want, err)
+		}
+	}
+	for _, raw := range []string{holder(barTemplate, all), holder(barTemplate, "${contribution:node-bar:block}"),
+		// A holder that places no block at all is older than the kind, and is not refused for it.
+		holder("", "no blocks here")} {
+		if _, err := ParseManifest([]byte(raw)); err != nil {
+			t.Errorf("%s: refused: %v", raw, err)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+func TestAnOfferedBlockMakesNoDependencyOnTheBar(t *testing.T) {
+	power := Manifest{Module: "power", Contributions: []SeatContribution{
+		block(`{"bar":"bottom","place":"status","shows":"battery"}`),
+		{Seat: HotkeysSeat, Kind: "trigger", Content: "x"},
+	}}
+	for _, seat := range DependsOn(power) {
+		if seat == BarSeat {
+			t.Fatalf("a block made the power module depend on the bar: %v", DependsOn(power))
+		}
+	}
+	// And on a machine with no bar it is placed nowhere, and nothing fails.
+	r := Resolution{Node: "server", Account: "op", Capabilities: map[string]bool{"battery": true},
+		Modules: []Manifest{hotkeysHolder(), power}}
+	if _, err := r.Declaration(Rendering{}); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestTheBarReceivesBlocksAsData(t *testing.T) {
+	s, _ := SeatNamed(BarSeat)
+	if len(s.Receives) != 1 || s.Receives[0].Kind != BarKindBlock || s.Receives[0].Shape == nil || !s.Receives[0].Offered {
+		t.Fatalf("node-bar receives %+v", s.Receives)
+	}
+	for _, ex := range s.Receives[0].Shape.Examples {
+		if p := barBlockProblems(ex); len(p) > 0 {
+			t.Errorf("the shape's own example %v is refused: %v", ex, p)
+		}
+	}
+}

internal/catalogue/seat_dependencies.go

@@ -118,8 +118,11 @@ func contributedTo(m Manifest) []string {
 	}
 	// Any other seat's contribution (novox/hq ADR 0212 §4), by the seat's canonical name; one the
 	// mesh does not define is refused at registration and depends on nothing here.
+	// A kind the seat only offers to place makes no dependency (novox/hq ADR 0255).
 	for _, c := range m.Contributions {
-		if s, known := SeatNamed(c.Seat); known {
+		if s, r, ok := receivable(c.Seat, c.Kind); ok && r.Offered {
+			continue
+		} else if s.Name != "" {
 			out = append(out, s.Name)
 		}
 	}

internal/catalogue/seats.go

@@ -68,6 +68,13 @@ type Receivable struct {
 	// only the mesh knows where. Off for every kind written in a tool's grammar that has its own
 	// `${…}` — a shell's — where the mesh filling one would change what the tool reads.
 	Dirs bool
+	// Shape, when set, makes the kind data rather than text (novox/hq ADR 0255): a contributor gives
+	// `data` in this shape, and the holder renders each piece with the template its claim gives.
+	Shape *Shape
+	// Offered says a contribution of this kind does not depend on the seat (novox/hq ADR 0255): where
+	// nobody holds it nothing is placed, and the contributor runs there all the same. A battery's bar
+	// block is offered — the power module is on every machine, and a server has no bar.
+	Offered bool
 }
 
 // defaultSeats is the set the mesh ships with — the seed for the control plane's seat table and the

internal/conditions/events.go

@@ -36,6 +36,9 @@ const (
 	ChangeSilenced   = "silenced"
 	ChangeUnsilenced = "silence-ended"
 	ChangeCleared    = "cleared"
+	// ChangeWords is what the operator needs, or the answers offered, said differently (novox/hq ADR
+	// 0258): a warning kept quiet as needing nothing is said once its words need the operator.
+	ChangeWords = "words"
 )
 
 // Event is the body of every condition event, and the shape a history entry keeps: **the condition

internal/conditions/plain.go

@@ -62,10 +62,37 @@ const (
 )
 
 // SilenceAction is the action that stops a condition's messages for a week, with the operator's why: the
-// answer to a condition the operator decided to live with.
+// answer to a condition the operator decided to live with. It is an acknowledgement (ADR 0234 §8): the
+// only kind of answer a desk click performs until answers are authorised (novox/hq ADR 0258). Its cause
+// marks it as an answer, which the hand-act log does not count as a repair.
 func SilenceAction(key string) Action {
 	return Action{Label: "Silence for a week", Verb: "mesh-controller.conditions",
-		Arguments: map[string]string{"silence": key, "for": "7d", "why": ""}}
+		Arguments: map[string]string{"silence": key, "for": "7d", "why": "", "cause": CauseOperatorAnswer}}
+}
+
+// CauseOperatorAnswer is the cause an answer chosen on a notification is recorded with.
+const CauseOperatorAnswer = "operator-answer"
+
+// FallbackNeeds is what a condition needs when its producer's words needed the operator and could not
+// be said: the verdict is kept, never turned into "Nothing for you to do." (ADR 0258).
+const FallbackNeeds = "read the details to see what to do."
+
+func sameActions(a, b []Action) bool {
+	if len(a) != len(b) {
+		return false
+	}
+	for i := range a {
+		if a[i].Label != b[i].Label || a[i].Verb != b[i].Verb || a[i].Machine != b[i].Machine ||
+			len(a[i].Arguments) != len(b[i].Arguments) {
+			return false
+		}
+		for k, v := range a[i].Arguments {
+			if b[i].Arguments[k] != v {
+				return false
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	return true
 }
 
 // Bounds of the plain words: a headline fits a notification's title line, an explanation two sentences.
@@ -108,7 +135,9 @@ var (
 	goDuration = regexp.MustCompile(`\b[0-9]+(h[0-9]+m|m[0-9]+s|h[0-9]+m[0-9]+s)\b|\b[0-9]+(\.[0-9]+)?(ns|ms|µs)\b`)
 	clockTime  = regexp.MustCompile(`\b[0-9]{1,2}:[0-9]{2}\b|\b[0-9]{4}-[0-9]{2}-[0-9]{2}\b|\bUTC\b`)
 	flag       = regexp.MustCompile(`(^|\s)--?[a-z]`)
-	agentWord  = regexp.MustCompile(`(?i)\bagents?\b|\bby hand\b|\bsession\b`)
+	agentWord  = regexp.MustCompile(`(?i)\bagents?\b`)
+	byHand     = regexp.MustCompile(`(?i)\bby hand\b`)
+	latinAbbr  = regexp.MustCompile(`\b(e\.g|i\.e|etc)\.`)
 	markup     = regexp.MustCompile("[`*<>{}\\[\\]|#]|(^|\\s)_|_(\\s|$)")
 )
 
@@ -126,14 +155,15 @@ func Plain(text string, machines ...string) (string, bool) {
 	if m := markup.FindString(text); m != "" {
 		return "markup (" + m + ")", false
 	}
+	text = latinAbbr.ReplaceAllString(text, "eg")
 	for _, shape := range []struct {
 		re   *regexp.Regexp
 		what string
 	}{{hexID, "a hash"}, {numberedID, "a numbered id"}, {dotted, "a dotted name"}, {goDuration, "a duration in code"},
 		{clockTime, "a clock time or date"}, {flag, "a command's flag"}} {
 		if m := shape.re.FindString(text); m != "" {
-			if shape.re == hexID && !strings.ContainsAny(m, "0123456789") {
-				continue // a word of letters a to f only
+			if shape.re == hexID && (!strings.ContainsAny(m, "0123456789") || !strings.ContainsAny(m, "abcdef")) {
+				continue // letters a to f only, or a number: words and counts, not a hash
 			}
 			return shape.what + " (" + strings.TrimSpace(m) + ")", false
 		}
@@ -158,16 +188,14 @@ func PlainWords(w Words, machines ...string) (string, bool) {
 	if len(w.Explanation) > ExplanationMax {
 		return fmt.Sprintf("explanation: longer than %d characters", ExplanationMax), false
 	}
-	for _, m := range agentWord.FindAllString(w.Explanation, -1) {
-		if !strings.EqualFold(m, "by hand") { // "repaired by hand" is a fact; telling to act by hand is not
-			return "explanation: sends the operator elsewhere (" + m + ")", false
-		}
+	if m := agentWord.FindString(w.Explanation); m != "" {
+		return "explanation: sends the operator elsewhere (" + m + ")", false
 	}
 	if w.Needs != "" {
 		if why, ok := Plain(w.Needs, machines...); !ok {
 			return "needs: " + why, false
 		}
-		if m := agentWord.FindString(w.Needs); m != "" {
+		if m := agentWord.FindString(w.Needs) + byHand.FindString(w.Needs); m != "" {
 			return "needs: not something the operator does themselves (" + m + ")", false
 		}
 		if len(w.Needs) > NeedsMax || !strings.HasSuffix(w.Needs, ".") {
@@ -221,6 +249,8 @@ func plainly(o Observation) Observation {
 	if w.Headline != "" && w.Resolved == "" {
 		w.Resolved = "Resolved: " + lowerFirst(w.Headline)
 	}
+	// An explanation too long is cut, never refused: what it says first is what matters.
+	w.Explanation = cut(w.Explanation, ExplanationMax-len(Verdict(w.Needs, ""))-1)
 	if from == "" {
 		if Unworded != nil {
 			Unworded(o, "the kind "+o.Kind+" has no plain words")
@@ -230,13 +260,42 @@ func plainly(o Observation) Observation {
 		if Unworded != nil {
 			Unworded(o, from+" is not plain: "+why)
 		}
+		// The scope's words, but never a weaker verdict: what needed the operator still does, and its
+		// answers are kept where they are themselves sound.
+		needed, actions := w.Needs != "", soundActions(w.Actions)
 		w = scopeWords(o)
+		if needed {
+			w.Needs, w.Actions = FallbackNeeds, actions
+		}
 	}
 	o.Headline, o.Resolved, o.Needs, o.Actions = w.Headline, w.Resolved, w.Needs, w.Actions
 	o.Explanation = Verdict(w.Needs, w.Explanation)
 	return o
 }
 
+// soundActions are the actions with a label and a verb.
+func soundActions(list []Action) []Action {
+	var out []Action
+	for _, a := range list {
+		if a.Label != "" && len(a.Label) <= 24 && a.Verb != "" {
+			out = append(out, a)
+		}
+	}
+	return out
+}
+
+// cut shortens text to at most n bytes at a word, ending it with an ellipsis.
+func cut(text string, n int) string {
+	if len(text) <= n || n < 10 {
+		return text
+	}
+	t := text[:n-3]
+	if i := strings.LastIndexByte(t, ' '); i > n/2 {
+		t = t[:i]
+	}
+	return strings.TrimRight(t, " ,;:") + "…"
+}
+
 // Verdict is an explanation opened by its verdict.
 func Verdict(needs, explanation string) string {
 	if needs == "" {

internal/conditions/plain_test.go

@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ import (
 func TestThePlainRuleRefusesIdentifiersCodeAndTimes(t *testing.T) {
 	refused := map[string]string{
 		"the walk of novox/mesh-catalog a6385479 waits": "a hash",
-		"plan plan-1791454185265004861 is waiting":      "a hash",
+		"plan plan-1791454185265004861 is waiting":      "a numbered id",
 		"see `mesh-delivery.show` for why":              "markup",
 		"call mesh-delivery.show for why":               "a dotted name",
 		"key plan.x.waiting":                            "a dotted name",
@@ -124,7 +124,6 @@ func TestEveryExplanationOpensWithItsVerdict(t *testing.T) {
 	for _, w := range []Words{
 		{Headline: "x waits", Explanation: "Have an agent start it.", Resolved: "x started"},
 		{Headline: "x waits", Explanation: "It waits.", Needs: "start it by hand.", Resolved: "x started"},
-		{Headline: "x waits", Explanation: "It waits.", Needs: "open a session and start it.", Resolved: "x started"},
 		{Headline: "x waits", Explanation: "It waits.", Needs: "start it", Resolved: "x started"},
 		{Headline: "x waits", Explanation: "It waits.", Resolved: "x started", Actions: []Action{{Label: "Start"}}},
 	} {
@@ -161,3 +160,88 @@ func TestAnEscalatedConditionSaysItNeedsTheOperator(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Errorf("seen again after escalation: %q", c.Explanation)
 	}
 }
+
+// **What the plain rule refused wrongly** (novox/hq ADR 0258): a login session is the operator's own word,
+// "e.g." is not a dotted name, a long count is not a hash, and a long explanation is cut, not refused.
+func TestThePlainRuleRefusesNoPlainWords(t *testing.T) {
+	for _, text := range []string{
+		"log out of every session on g14 and log in again.",
+		"A module, e.g. the lighting daemon, waits.",
+		"It holds 12345678 files.",
+		"A person repaired push by hand 35 times in 14 days.",
+	} {
+		if why, ok := Plain(text, "g14"); !ok {
+			t.Errorf("%q refused: %s", text, why)
+		}
+	}
+	if _, ok := Plain("commit 0123abc landed"); ok {
+		t.Error("a hash passed")
+	}
+	k, _, _, _ := keeper(t)
+	long := strings.Repeat("The bus refused a message. ", 30)
+	Wording("test-long", func(o Observation) Words {
+		return Words{Headline: "A long one", Explanation: long, Resolved: "Done"}
+	})
+	before := Unworded
+	var unworded []string
+	Unworded = func(o Observation, why string) { unworded = append(unworded, why) }
+	t.Cleanup(func() { Unworded = before })
+	c, err := k.Observe(t.Context(), Observation{Scope: ScopeBus, ID: "x", Kind: "test-long", Severity: Warning,
+		Source: "test", Summary: "long"})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if c.Headline != "A long one" || len(c.Explanation) > ExplanationMax || !strings.HasSuffix(c.Explanation, "…") ||
+		len(unworded) != 0 {
+		t.Errorf("a long explanation was not cut: %d %q %v", len(c.Explanation), c.Headline, unworded)
+	}
+}
+
+// **Words refused keep their verdict and their answers** (ADR 0258): a producer that needed the operator
+// still does, said as "read the details", and its sound answers stay.
+func TestRefusedWordsKeepTheirVerdictAndAnswers(t *testing.T) {
+	k, _, _, _ := keeper(t)
+	before := Unworded
+	Unworded = func(Observation, string) {}
+	t.Cleanup(func() { Unworded = before })
+	silence := SilenceAction("module.openrazer.g14.x")
+	c, err := k.Observe(t.Context(), Observation{Scope: ScopeModule, ID: "openrazer.g14", Token: "x", Kind: "test-refused",
+		Machine: "g14", Severity: Warning, Source: "test", Summary: "s",
+		Headline: "openrazer at 0123abc failed", Needs: "restart it.", Explanation: "It failed.",
+		Actions: []Action{silence}})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if c.Needs != FallbackNeeds || !strings.HasPrefix(c.Explanation, NeedsYou+" "+FallbackNeeds) ||
+		len(c.Actions) != 1 || c.Actions[0].Label != silence.Label || strings.Contains(c.Headline, "0123abc") {
+		t.Errorf("the verdict or the answers were lost: %+v", c)
+	}
+	// Words that needed nothing stay "Nothing for you to do.".
+	c, _ = k.Observe(t.Context(), Observation{Scope: ScopeModule, ID: "openrazer.g14", Token: "y", Kind: "test-refused",
+		Machine: "g14", Severity: Warning, Source: "test", Summary: "s", Headline: "at 0123abc", Explanation: "x."})
+	if c.Needs != "" || !strings.HasPrefix(c.Explanation, NothingToDo) {
+		t.Errorf("%+v", c)
+	}
+}
+
+// **Words that now need the operator are said as a change** (ADR 0258): a condition whose needs or answers
+// change emits condition-changed, so a warning kept quiet is said.
+func TestAChangeOfWordsIsSaid(t *testing.T) {
+	k, _, told, _ := keeper(t)
+	o := Observation{Scope: ScopeMachine, ID: "ace", Kind: "silent", Machine: "ace", Severity: Warning, Source: "S1",
+		Summary: "ace is silent", Headline: "ace is not answering", Explanation: "It may be asleep."}
+	if _, err := k.Observe(t.Context(), o); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if _, err := k.Observe(t.Context(), o); err != nil { // the same words: no event
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	o.Needs = "check that ace is on."
+	if _, err := k.Observe(t.Context(), o); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	said := settled(t, told, 2)
+	if len(said) != 2 || said[1].Change != ChangeWords || said[1].Event != EventChanged || said[1].Needs != o.Needs {
+		t.Fatalf("%+v", said)
+	}
+}

internal/conditions/store.go

@@ -240,8 +240,12 @@ func (k *Keeper) Observe(ctx context.Context, o Observation) (Condition, error)
 		// The kind as the source says it now: a source that gave the same key a kind of its own since
 		// (a probe's finding split out for a healer) is read by that kind from its next observation.
 		c.Kind, c.Summary, c.Source, c.LastObserved = o.Kind, o.Summary, o.Source, now
+		wasNeeds, wasActions := c.Needs, c.Actions
 		c.Headline, c.Explanation, c.Resolved, c.Needs, c.Actions = o.Headline, o.Explanation, o.Resolved, o.Needs, o.Actions
 		escalatedWords(&c)
+		if c.Needs != wasNeeds || !sameActions(c.Actions, wasActions) {
+			changes = append(changes, Event{Change: ChangeWords, Was: wasNeeds})
+		}
 		if o.Machine != "" {
 			c.Subject.Machine = o.Machine
 		}

internal/inventory/health.go

@@ -28,6 +28,9 @@ type ResourceHealth struct {
 	// (ADR 0240 Phase B, to-be 48 §6).
 	Check string `json:"check,omitempty"`
 	Needs string `json:"needs,omitempty"`
+	// Account is the account whose own service manager runs it, or the account a resource of kind account
+	// is (novox/hq ADR 0254).
+	Account string `json:"account,omitempty"`
 }
 
 // NodeHealth is a machine's newest statement, as kept.

internal/inventory/plans.go

@@ -143,6 +143,15 @@ type PlanGate struct {
 	Carried []CarriedMove `json:"carried,omitempty"`
 	// Failing names the modules the last judging found wanting.
 	Failing []string `json:"failing,omitempty"`
+	// Healthy counts, per module, the consecutive judgings that found it healthy on every machine judged,
+	// or waiting for a person (novox/hq ADR 0254): each module's passes, apart from the send's.
+	Healthy map[string]int `json:"healthy,omitempty"`
+	// Waits is, per module, the wait for a person the newest judging read (ADR 0254): carried along, never
+	// a reason to fail.
+	Waits map[string]string `json:"waits,omitempty"`
+	// Passing names the modules that passed on their own when the send failed (ADR 0254): each keeps its
+	// pass, and is not put back.
+	Passing []string `json:"passing,omitempty"`
 }
 
 // CarriedMove is one module's build moving on a machine with a gated send.

internal/link/protocol.go

@@ -441,6 +441,15 @@ type Health struct {
 // file it writes, a service whose lifecycle is the machine's — said unhealthy while it stays failed.
 const KindUnit = "unit"
 
+// KindAccount is an account a module puts in a group (novox/hq ADR 0252): healthy when the account's running
+// session has every group the module declares, or nobody is logged in; unhealthy otherwise, its reason
+// starting ReasonRelogin when only a new login is missing.
+const KindAccount = "account"
+
+// ReasonRelogin starts the reason of an account whose running session began before it was put in a group
+// (ADR 0252): the build did what it should, and a person has one step left (novox/hq ADR 0254).
+const ReasonRelogin = "relogin needed"
+
 // The states of a machine's service managers (issue 315).
 const (
 	UnitsRunning  = "running"
@@ -529,6 +538,10 @@ type ResourceHealth struct {
 	// alone; Needs is the provision the check exercises (to-be 48 §6).
 	Check string `json:"check,omitempty"`
 	Needs string `json:"needs,omitempty"`
+	// Account is the account whose own service manager runs it, for a unit or service in an account's
+	// manager, and the account itself for a resource of kind KindAccount (novox/hq ADR 0254). Empty from an
+	// engine older than that, and for anything the machine's own manager or runtime runs.
+	Account string `json:"account,omitempty"`
 }
 
 // HealthSaid is the health event's body: the machine and its statement. The machine is read from the